My Bloody Valentine
by Methane
Summary: Darren's diary was based all on his opinions, not the actual facts. Now, I will reveal things that they had forbid me to say, things that might cause the vampires to become the villains. This is my side of the story. originally Time Twister [old story read at own risk/in progress of rewriting]
1. Prologue

EDIT: Hiya~  I know this is a bit um late, but…DISCLAIMER!! I don't own Darren Shan…hopefully, he won't have noticed that I haven't put this put until now…=P

P.S. Oh and…I THINK that the letter-starting part and the random letter bits and pieces throughout my fanfic is pretty original, so please don't copy it without telling me!! Thanks~3

_Dear Fiona, _

_I grant that you have read the saga of Darren Shan, which is really the diary of Darren Shan. You know that Darren, a simple, ordinary boy, grew up to become a vampire prince, and later changed his own destiny. That is not so, for there's one thing you must know about vampires. They are all sexists. Just because one is a female, they would erase her from their stories and tales unless she proves herself. I am one of these victims, if you can actually call me a vampire. Yes, Fiona, vampires are real. They are as real as you and me, the old widow and her flowers. Whether you believe me or not, well, I can't hold that against you. All I want you to know is that if I don't survive out of this, I want you to know that…_


	2. Chapter 1

Yay, this is my first Darren Shan Fanfic ever

Yay, this is my first Darren Shan Fanfic ever! Woo ! I just love vampires, they rock! Anyway, if there's a lot of Mary sues, impossible things, or you just think it sucks, end of story, write a review! I love reviews too, whether it has or has not anything to do with the story! And, if you think, I'm addressing the readers who have read my other sucky stories before, that I'm going way too far with the every lead actress is starting with an E, review too, and I will change it!

NOTE: I wrote this in June…so yeah, there are lots of things un-updated yet

EDIT: Yes, I know that there used to be 51 chapters. But the last few chapters I wrote while in school, so they were really messed up as they were the results of 30-min speed writing. In the end, I've decided to re-write them so I've deleted them *shot*. Sorry for the inconvenience! In the mean time...I'm editing bits of the previous chapters, such as sorting out all the grammar mistakes and such *shot again*.

and...it seems that I need to put a disclaimer here, no?

I don't own Darren Shan or any of the original characters or plot!

* * *

'Hey, starting the plan today at break, you joining?' a message was thrust on to my desk. I read it and looked up, and grinned at my best friend Alexandra. She grinned back and gave me a thumb up sign and returned to stare lovingly at the back of a boy with tanned skin, short curly dark brown hair who was doodling some picture on his textbook. I stifled back a snort of laughter; Alexandra has this huge crush on the school soccer hotshot Darren Shan. She thinks that he is so great, and instantly loved anything he liked.

"Mr. Dalton, I don't feel so good," Darren suddenly said, and Mr. Dalton let him go to the bathroom. Oh my, Darren's suffering from all the staring Alexandra was giving him! 'Ooh, Darren's suffering from too many stares from you, Lexi, is you going to look in the sewage for the tissues he used?' I wrote mockingly on the back of the original note and passed it back to her. Lexi's eyes got wide and her face got scarlet. She whipped around her seat, and glared at me, mouthing the words 'I'll get back,' to me. I gave her a beaming smile and turned back to the map of China that we were supposed to be drawing. It was way too simple, my ancestors were from there, if I still don't know how to map it perfectly it'll be a disgrace! Suddenly, the bell rang for us to go to break.

"Homework is to finish your maps of China, due Monday morning, no excuses for late work. Class dismissed!" Mr. Dalton said, wiping the blackboard clean. I stacked my books neatly into a pile and walked to Lexi's desk.

"I am so going to get back at you!" she hissed, but I could tell that she was just pretending; I knew her too well for her to fool me.

"Yeah, tell me if you ever manage swimming past the entire poop, will you?" I asked her and she burst out laughing.

"Oi, hurry up!" Fiona, one of our friends called from the doorway. Our other friends were all waiting out the door, as they did not have class with us.

"Coming," I called and hurried to my locker, which was incidentally beside Darren's, which caused Lexi to want to trade with me a lot of times, but I said no, why am I giving up my locker for that one reason? Besides, her locker was next to Queen Bee Christian's, and we get along as well as water and oil.

"What's homework for you guys?" Amber asked, leaning against the locker on my left, which was empty and we often put junk in. Oh, I think I should mention my friends for a bit. Our group is basically made up of Evangeline Cho, which was me, Alexandra Stone, Fiona Fang and Amber Connolly. We used to have a fifth member, Marietta Williams, but she decided that she was too cool and popular to hang out with us. But we don't really mind much, she didn't exactly fit in with us anyways.

"Homework's to finish that China Map we started two weeks ago. I mean, it's just so boring, I can't wait until we start on the Egyptians!" I said, placing everything neatly into my locker. It had always been neat, for I was kind of a neat freak other than the fact I don't bother to make my bed nor tidy my desk, but I always kept my lockers clean.

"We're starting the plan today," Lexi announced, as if it was something special. Fiona looked shocked while Amber looked bored; Amber never had a crush on anyone before, and thought of boys as boring.

"Yeah, if I wait another turn, there won't be any dances left for me to ask him to!" Lexi said, but then she accidentally knocked over my pile of books, creating a domino scene. I gave her a 'look'; it's going to take me a long time to clean it up again.

"Oops," Lexi said, reaching for the books, but then she saw something that caused her to squeal and hide behind Fiona. "He's coming here!" I glanced briefly back and saw that Darren Shan walking towards his locker with his best friend Steve Leonard.

"If you keep squealing and hiding when you see him, we won't be able to carry out the plan," Amber pointed out emotionlessly, still leaning on the empty locker and playing with a rubber band. I was just about to place my books into my locker when someone slammed their locker door into my face and knocked all the books down again.

"Ah! I'm so sorry! Why do I always do that?" Darren cried, banging his head on his locker door, causing my neatly arranged shelves to tremble.

"You're only making it worse," I said flatly, screwing the shelves tight. Lexi pulled me away.

"You never told me that he looked into your locker before!" she squealed, shaking with excitement.

"I thought that you were interested in the plan, not what he does in his locker," I said to her, sighing. A girl in love was foolish, but Lexi in love was just out of control.

"Jeez, girls are such neat freaks," Darren muttered to Steve.

At that, Lexi giggled girlishly, twirling a log of her short light brown hair.

"Oh Darren's you're so funny!" she giggled with an 'I'm in love' expression on her face. I slapped my face while Darren and Steve looked at her like she was crazy.

"Oh, um, I…we should be going, right Darren?" Steve said, and they ran to the field where they play soccer everyday.

"Over kill, mate," Amber said, "You're hair's too short to be twirled and you should stop looking so crazily in love."

"Amber's right, and you're acting way too girly, I thought that you were trying to aim for soccer star?" I added, raising my eyebrow and closing my locker door. "Let's go outside, it's stuffy here."

"Yeah, let's go to the fields," Lexi added and pushed us towards the door. Outside was hot and the sunshine was painful on my skin. I hated the sun, it makes my hair look light brown, yet Lexi loved the sun. 'You can't play soccer in the rain, can you?' was her reason, meaning that if it rained she won't be able to be near Darren. I still can't believe I'm actually helping here; I actually paid Rick McKellar five pounds for him to kick the soccer ball our way every time he sees us and make sure that Darren goes to get it. A soccer ball zoomed our way and Darren ran to get it, like we expected.

"Get the plan now!" Lexi hissed and used her foot to stop the ball then kicked it into her hands, a trick she had tried to learn for weeks.

"Thanks," Darren said, not saying anything about the kick. Lexi must have been desperate because she gave us the signal to start the plan right away.

"Hey Darren," Amber said, holding a peace sign like she often did.

"Um, hi," said Darren, taking a step backwards.

"Darren, did you hear about the dance?" Fiona asked him her hands on her hips.

"You mean this Friday? Well, yes…" Darren said, taking another step backwards.

"Darren, can you…well…will you…I mean, you're the most popular boy inschoolandi'?" Lexi sputtered out. Darren didn't answer, but then Steve interrupted him. I hadn't noticed that he had run up to us.

": Hey Darren, are you coming to the game or what? We need the ball!" Steve said, and then noticed us. How stupid did we look, for he said: "Oh, ok…I'll just step to the side…?"

"Can you repeat that?" Darren asked, scratching his head. Lexi gave me a pleading look and I sighed.

"Basically, in a few words, she wants to go to the dance with you. She's crazy about you," I said plainly, making Lexi go red and glare at me. I had added in the last sentence to make it sound better and if he says no it'll make him feel guiltier. But, I had not whispered them as I should have and since Steve was close by, he heard everything. Darren was all scarlet too, and did not speak.

"Darren, man, we really need to be going, bye!" Steve said, grabbing Darren by his shoulders and wheeled him to the game.

"It's a pity he didn't stay," I said, patting Lexi's arm softly. I felt sorry for her, and Darren didn't exactly say anything yet either.

"Yeah, it was a pity they didn't stay because I could have told Steve that you had a not so tiny crush on him!" Lexi kind of shouted the last sentence, which I'm not quite sure they heard but was embarrassing all the same. I don't feel sorry for her anymore, all of a sudden.

"Ok, ok, I messed up, but that Steve wasn't supposed to be there either!" I told her, "So it's not totally my fault!"

"What ever, it's time for math class, we might be able to do plan B if we're quick enough," Lexi said, pulling me to our classroom. Incidentally, our math teacher was sick and so Mr. Dalton was our substitute. Oh well, Mr. Dalton was a good teacher, and if he knows his algebra as good as his history on China, it'll be ok.

"Settle down, kids, I'm your substitute today," Mr. Dalton said, and started on some lecture which I found extremely boring. I glanced at Lexi and she was drawing something, as usual. She didn't like nor get math, and she does not want to learn math either. This is so boring, she mouthed to me, and I agreed.

"Ok, so, let's take an example. If Darren scored thirty three goals in a game of a hundred goals…" Mr. Dalton was saying, and Lexi sighed lovingly.

I rolled my eyes, and started to day dream, something I loved to do for it gives me pointers on new stories to write: _I ran faster and faster, my long blonde hair whipping behind my back. What I had risked everything to get, the silver locket gleamed from my neck, and with each step it thumped against my heart as if saying dead, all dead, all dead. I turned my head back, and stared at the sight of the burning building without stopping, my eyes filling with tears form all the ashes and dust. Suddenly, I yell out, my arms swinging wildly under the moon light, but it was not any help. I hadn't noticed the cliff, and now had run over the cliff. I felt something tug on my neck, and saw that the locket had caught on a branch and now I'm hanging for life on it, between two choices: to be hung to death or to fall to my doom…_

"Evangeline, Evangeline, earth to Evangeline," Mr. Dalton called from the front of the classroom, waking me from my daydream. "Good, you finally came back, now; can you answer my question that I had repeated over three times already?"

Oh no, what question? I hadn't been thinking since I started daydreaming. Glancing briefly at the blackboard; on the blackboard there was an equation saying 2P-23-8P7P+2P-23. Good, it was algebra, something I found pretty easy to understand, and since I had reviewed and the fact that I was basically great in math made me solve it in a few seconds.

"The answer is that P equals zero," I said. It was just basic algebra, something we had learned to do a few months ago.

Mr. Dalton looked surprised.

"Correct, but I am surprised that you could solve it even though you weren't paying attention just now. Steve said that you were basically the best one in math class, and now I think he is pretty correct. If math was soccer, you'd be a better player than Darren!"

Lexi sniggered silently at me, because what she had said earlier was pretty true, I do have a not so little crush on Steve Leonard, the cute, pale skinned best friend of Darren Shan. But I smirked at her, and passed her a note saying: bet that you wished it was you who Mr. Dalton made compares with Darren, eh? And when she read it she turned scarlet again and ripped the note up.

Mr. Dalton was now going on about algebraic expressions, which we had covered ages ago. Maybe he's just reviewing today, not teaching. I started to draw on my textbook pictures of all my friends, snakes, and roses. Then, I noticed that the whole room was silent, and Mr. Dalton was standing in front of me. I froze all over, what if Mr. Dalton was going to give me detention for not paying attention?

But then I realized that he was looking at Darren, who sat two seats in front of me. Then, did I realize that Darren was muttering things like spiders and snake boys. What on earth is a snake boy, a snake that looks like a boy or a boy that looks like a snake?

"Where did you find this?" Mr. Dalton asked him in a cold voice I had never heard him use before. I turned to Lexi and mouthed: Darren Shan is in trouble? For Darren never gets in trouble with Mr. Dalton. Lexi shrugged with a worried expression, and Darren remained silent until suddenly Steve said

": It's mine" from the front of the room, "I found an old geezer with it and it looked interesting so I bought it to ask you about it." Mr. Dalton nodded and told him to get back to his desk, walked to the front of the room, and tacked what Darren had been reading on to the board. I could see that it reads Cirque Du Freak in large bold letters, with a picture of a wolf and spider, and a list of acts named the wolf man, the snake boy, and Truska the bearded woman. It was a freak show, I realized, and with shock. I thought those had been banned for a long time, it must be very interesting to go to one.

"Freak shows were banned, that's why I was mad when I saw this flyer. They all used to put deformed people, people who are very tall, very short, people with lots of hair, and people who has extra ordinarily big eyes into cages and earns money for people to laugh at them and tease them. They dress them in rags, beat them and give them very little money, and were very cruel to them," Mr. Dalton said.

"That's perverted!" Cheryl Jackson said, shuddering and tossing her long curly blonde hair.

"Yes it is, that's why I am mad when I saw this flyer. The people who run them are animals, and people who go to them are no better. Although this might be just a couple of people dressed in costumes, but I think you'd be crazy to want to go or even go." Freak shows sound dangerous and cruel, but it also sounded very interesting. I had never been to a circus before, not even a phony, kiddy circus, and this freak show sounded so exciting. I would want to see a bearded lady, a spider that kills with one bite, and a snake boy.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm absolutely crazy about snakes and lizards; they are just so cute and awesome. Maybe the snake boy is a person who knows a lot about snakes, and then I'd be able to ask them about snakes! If it's a boy who looks like a snake, then maybe I can get his autograph or something, and that would be cool too. After class, I went and grouped my friends.

"Hey, what's the news?" asked Fiona eagerly.

"Well, Darren…" I started.

"You're crazy about Darren too?" asked Amber in a shocked voice, looking horrified.

"No! He found this poster to a freak show! A freak show with snake boys, wolf mans, and poisonous spiders that kill with one bite!" I exclaimed softly, but none of them seem eager.

"What's a snake boy? And, you know that I hate creepy crawlies. If you want to go, count me out," said Fiona, shuddering at the thought of spiders.

"Sorry, I don't want to go to that freak show thing. It sounds so boring, and it's probably illegal, who knows? And you can see all those things in a normal circus, and what on earth is a snake boy?" said Amber, rolling her eyes and staring at the sky.

"Well, I'd want to go," Lexi said, "we might bump into Darren!" I had the urge to roll my eyes but I didn't dare. If she's not going, I won't be able to go because I'm not going by myself or asking to go with Darren.

"Yeah, let's go and buy the tickets together today," I told her, and she nodded, too excited to speak.

"On the day of the freak show I'll just say that you're coming for a sleepover. My parents are going out of town almost every night these days, and they won't barge in if it's a sleepover," I told her, and hopped on to my bicycle. "See you in front of my house eight o'clock today!" I yelled and pedaled away.

Yes, I'm finally going to the freak show! My parents would never let me go, so I won't ask for permission. As for the address and money, I had already memorized what it read, kind of, and I'm sure it meant that empty building because all the other buildings are homes. As for money, I had plenty of those, so money's the least of my worries unless they're selling the tickets for a thousand dollars a ticket, then I won't be able to go. If only I had ran out of money.


	3. Chapter 2

"We're here

"We're here?" whispered a frightened Lexi. We had arrived in front of the abandoned house, and no one was here, but I was certain they must be some where in there.

"Yes, I think we have to go in," I said, acting braver than I thought. Actually, I was even more frightened than her. The dark didn't scare me, it terrifies me.

"You first," I told her, but she shook her head and we tiptoed inside. It was really dark, but not dark enough for us to not see anything. We were just glancing to see if there's a light switch when a voice behind us suddenly said

": How can I help you young ladies?" Lexi screamed and hugged me so tight that her nails pricked into my skin. Ow. It hurt so much that I wasn't scared any more.

"Stop it Lexi! We're here to buy tickets to the Cirque Du freak, and if you know where it is, can you please kindly tell us?" I said bravely to the voice.

"Ah…" the voice said, "do you have a flyer than?"

"No, a kid from class showed it today and we thought that it'd be interesting to go to," I said, trying to see where that man is. He was very high, as tall as the ceiling, but I could only make out his outline.

"How much money do you have? Ah, give me your money then and I'll give you your tickets. It isn't everyday that I sell tickets to people without flyers so you better hurry," the tall man advised and we handed our bills to him. In return, he handed us two tickets and some change.

"It is only fifteen pounds a ticket, not a hundred pounds," the tall man laughed in a booming sound.

"Well, we didn't know so we thought to bring extra money," I said defensively and he laughed again, and showed us the way out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You actually got the tickets?" exclaimed Amber in a loud voice, causing people to look our way. "To the anime exhibition in Taiwan?" she hastily added, for people knew that she was an anime fan and that I was from Taiwan. Sure enough, most people turned away to their conversations.

"Yes and please don't be so loud, we don't want anyone to know," I hissed at her.

"Sorry, I forgot that it's supposed to be a secret mission," she said, looking interested at the fact we actually went and bought those tickets.

"Can I see the tickets?" begged Fiona, and we showed her the edge of one green ticket.

"That's so cool…" she breathed, and then suddenly Mr. Dalton was strolling towards us.

"Quick, stuff the tickets under your shirt!" I whispered and we quickly hid the tickets in our undershirts.

"Girls, can I check your stuff, I had a…feeling that you guys might want to go to a…freak show." Mr. Dalton said.

"Sure, Mr. Dalton, we have nothing to hide from you but you need to check out for some ants in my bag, I think I left some almond snickers inside," I said sweetly, and we stepped aside. He flipped through our bags, and checked our pockets, shoes, even our mouths, then declared that we were free to go.

"Evangeline, wait, can I have a word with you?" he called out all of a sudden from across the cafeteria.

"Yes?" I asked, trying to act as innocent as I can.

"Have fun at that anime exhibition," was all he said before walking to get some coffee. I sat down, and we all sighed with relieve.

"I don't think we should have bought the tickets here," Lexi breathed, and I nodded.

"The show, when is it?" asked Fiona curiously.

"It's this Saturday, we have everything planned out. My parents are going downtown to listen to this weird conference, and I'm still going to pretend that Lexi is going to have a sleepover with me." I told them, and they all said that it was a great plan.

"Are you going to bring extra money for souvenirs?" Lexi asked. I laughed, of course I was! They might be selling snakes, or maybe just plain snake figurines, but I still want to get one of those.

"Duh, you should too; I bet they sell awesome stuff!' I told her.

"I am, oh, I wish you guys are going so much!" Lexi exclaimed.

"I kind of want to go now," Fiona said longingly, and Amber nodded approvingly.

"Oh they don't have anymore tickets, sorry, we got the last two tickets," we told them, and they hung their heads miserably.

"Maybe we can go next time then?" Amber said, shrugging and took out her latest version of Naruto and began to flip through it.

"Well, just bring us some interesting souvenirs, 'k?" Fiona said, "Maybe they sell action figures of the people, or maybe magnets of their name on it?"

"Yeah, we'll get you guys something. Hey, I'm so hungry now, let's go eat," Lexi said, pulling us towards the cafeteria. "I don't want to wait for a long time at the lunch line; I don't feel like eating leftovers!" After we ach got our plate of spaghetti and meat balls, mashed potatoes, chocolate chip cookie and box of milk (juice for me, I'm allergic to milk) we found an empty table and continued to discuss the freak show in whispers.

"I still don't think it's a good idea to go, my mom said that she knew this boy who went to a freak show and when he came back he wasn't right for a month," Amber said, not taking her eyes off the comic.

"I wish you won't read that thing during lunch, what do you see in it anyways?" Lexi said, wrinkling her nose at the comic, "besides, we won't end up in a sticky end, it's probably just people in costumes."

"Yeah, that boy was probably a wimp; we girls are stronger than boys anyways, right? One freak show won't change our lives, won't it?" I said, twirling my pasta in the air. How wrong was I about that freak show and not changing my life!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Welcome Alexandra, we're going to be out of town until next morning, if it's ok with you, we're taking Victoria here for some interviews for school," my mother said, opening the door. "Evangeline, your friend's here!" Of course, I already knew Lexi was here; I could hear someone talking about me in shushed voices even if they were across the room from me. Even so, I hurried downstairs to greet her.

"Hello, Alexandra," I said.

"Hey Evangeline," Lexi replied, hurrying towards me. "Can I put my stuff down?"

"Yeah, sure," I said, opening my door, and she went in. Even though she had been to my house for a gazillion times, we still carry this polite formal conversation every time she comes over. Heaven knows why, we just do.

"Evangeline, we have some dinner in the fridge, just heat it up in the microwave when Alexandra's hungry, can you? Oh, look at the time, we have to get going, bye!" my mom said, and hurried out the door followed by my dad and my sister who stuck her tongue out at me as she left. I sighed, and ran back to my room where Lexi was staring at all the posters of My Chemical Romance, Evanescence, Three days grace and Jonas brothers on my wall.

"I love your room; it's so neat and clean!" Lexi said, even though she had been there more than a million times. I glanced around and saw that I was pretty neat, I had one wall all full of bookshelves, a pretty nice sized bed, a large desk, a computer with a really large screen that could have passed as a small T.V and all my walls were covered in posters.

"Yeah, my mom made me clean up this morning for you, my dear lady Alexandra," I said, throwing a pillow at her, "Let's get something to eat, so we won't exactly throw up when we get there."

"Yeah, let's get some hamburgers," Lexi said, and ran into the kitchen. "Hey, I changed my mind; you guys had linguini, why didn't you tell me, and some pasta!"

"Yeah, just get what you want," I said, taking some clam chowder and noodles. We ate them in silence, and even though I did not have telepathy, I knew that we were both thinking about the freak show we're going to in a few hours.

"I wonder if they sell cotton candy there," Lexi asked, for she loved cotton candy.

"Naw, they would probably sell lizard eyes and roast spiders, but I'll bet you a million pounds that they don't sell cotton candy," I replied, snorting into my soup. She would be lucky if they sell any kind of food, I don't think they would even sell a poster or two.

"Hey, do you think we'll see Darren?" Lexi asked all of a sudden, and I groaned even though I knew she was going to ask that question.

"Maybe, but we shouldn't let them see us," I said, for I do not want to hear her ask me to help her ask him to the dance one more time, and, after that little incident with him, I don't think he'll be exactly pleased to see us.

"Why not?" Lexi demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"Because, they're probably there already and someone else would have at next to them already," I said, fibbing a teeny bit. Darren wasn't known to arrive early for anything in school.

"Then we should go now!" Lexi exclaimed, pulling me off my seat and almost spilling our food.

"Its thirty minutes early," I said flatly, pointing at the clock above my head. "I'm not going there that early for hi."

"Oh, then I will," Lexi said folding her arms. "I'm full anyways." I sighed, and quickly finished the soup. If Lexi was determined, I have no way of stopping her and might as well listen to her than put up with her.

"Fine, let's go, but don't get us embarrassed by screaming his name over the audience," I warned her, putting on my black leather jacket and hurried after her to the door.

"I won't," she said hotly, and pushed me out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I don't think anyone's here yet," I whispered, looking at the dark empty house in front of us. There wasn't a sound nearby, and no one was in sight.

"Why are you whispering, they're probably inside, we've been here before, right?" Lexi said, frowning at me and started to pull me inside.

"I can walk," I said irritated, and pushed her off then stepped inside the house. It was as dark and empty as the first time we had been there, with no sign of that tall man.

"Um, Mr. Tall man? It's us, we're here for the show," Lexi shouted towards the darkness. Nothing replied, other than a cool chill that sent goose bumps on my arm.

"Face it Lex, we're probably too…" I hissed, but a voice interrupted me.

"Ah, isn't it our young friends? I'm surprised that you've came. We don't usually allow children to watch our shows, but if you guys are brave enough to come here a second time, I guess you guys are allowed," a familiar deep voice boomed, making Lexi jump and clutch my arm.  
"It is unwise to be shouting in this old house, it might collapse, but as you have the tickets, follow me," he said, and began striding away. We had to jog to carry on with him, and suddenly he disappeared.

"Where is…" Lexi started but then I saw Mr. Tall man waving at us in front of two blood red curtains.

"Tickets please?" he asked, holding out a white gloved hand. We handed our tickets to him, and he waved us though the curtains. When we entered the curtains, we were in a dark corridor with another pair of curtains in front.

"Isn't there any lamps here?" Lexi asked, shivering because of the cold.

"If you were scared why didn't you bring your babysitter?" Mr. Tall man replied and disappeared again.

"Come on, Lexi," I said, and hurried through the curtains. We were facing an old theater, with a stage and plastic seats set up. There were not a lot of seats left, surprisingly, but no one we knew where there yet/ As far as I could see, we were the youngest people in this theater.

"Ev, let's sit here," Lexi said, and pulled me into two seats near the corridor and in the middle. There were no tall fat people in front of us, so we had a clear view.

"Where are they?" Lexi asked, scanning the crowd.

"They're probably not here yet," I said, bored, and began to stare at the stage for any sort of movement. There were no movements of any kind, but I thought that I saw a short blue hooded figure behind the curtains, but then Lexi poked me.

"Ev, I think I dropped my lipstick," Lexi said, and with an irritated sigh I bent down and started to look for it. Finally, we found it under the seat of a really fat lady and Lexi crawled under it to get it when I saw Darren and…Steve walk in through the curtains. I quickly pulled my black cap over my eyes, hoping that they won't recognize me.

"Ev, what are you going? You won't see anything with that ugly cap pulled over your eyes. Did you see Darren?" Lexi asked, pulling me down.

"No, I don't think he's coming to this show," I said, fibbing a bit again. As soon as we were seated, the lights went out until it was pitch black and someone turned on green lights, making the stage look very eerie. Two men came on stage pulling a cage. It was on wheels and covered with what looked like a huge bearskin rug. When they got to the middle of the stage they stopped, dropped the ropes and ran back into the wings. For a few seconds more, there was silence until some trumpets blew and the rug came flying off the cage. That was when all the screaming began. Lexi screamed, and hugged me tight, and I had to pry her fingers off even though the first freak was pretty freaky. It was the wolf man, and he was very ugly, hair all over his body. He only wore a piece of cloth around his middle, like Tarzan, so we could see his hairy legs and belly and back and arms. He had a long bushy beard which covered most of his face, and his eyes were yellow, his teeth red. Then, Mr. Tall man went on stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Cirque Du Freak, home of the world's most remarkable human beings. We are an ancient circus; we have toured for five hundred years, bringing the grotesque to generation after generation. Our line-up has changed many times, but never our frightening and bizarre, acts you can find nowhere else in the world. Those who are easily scared should leave now, I'm sure there are people who can tonight thinking this was a joke. Maybe they thought our freaks would be people in masks or harmless misfits. This is not so! Every act you see tonight is real. Each performer is unique, and none are harmless." That was the end of his speech and he walked offstage. Two pretty women in shiny suits came on next and unlocked the door of the wolf man's cage.

The wolf man was yapping and howling, until one of the ladies hypnotized him with her fingers. The other lady spoke to the crowd.

"You must be very quiet," she said in a foreign accent. "They wolf man will not be able to hurt you as long as we control him but a loud sound could wake him up, and then he would be deadly!"

When they were ready, they stepped down from the stage and walked the hypnotized wolf man through the theatre. His hair was a dirty gray color and he walked with a stoop, fingers hanging down around his knees.

The ladies stayed by his side and warned people to be quiet. They let you stroke him if you wanted, but you had to do it gently. I reached out nervously, and stroked it with a finger. It felt spiky like a hedgehog, and it smelled strange like burning rubber. Lexi was going to, but since she screamed when she touched something sharp, I convinced her other wise.

The wolf man and ladies were about halfway down the rows of seats when there was a big bang! I looked forward, and saw that someone had accidentally tipped their chair too far, and it had fallen to the floor. Suddenly the wolf man began roaring and he shoved the ladies away from him.

People screamed and those nearest him leapt from their seats and ran. One woman, the fat woman who Lexi's lipstick had fallen under, wasn't quick enough and the wolf man leapt on her and dragged her to the ground. She was screaming fit to burst but nobody tried to help her, not even the big red-faced man that was her husband. He rolled her over on to her back and bared his teeth. She stuck a hand up to push him away but he just bit it off.

A couple of people fainted when they saw that, and Lexi, who was screaming like hell screamed even louder and began not only scream but scream prayers. Then, out of nowhere Mr. Tall man appeared behind the wolf man and calmed him down. Mr. Tall then led him back to the cage, and the ladies told us to return to our seats and please stop screaming.

While we got back to our seats, the woman with the bitten-off hand went on screaming. Blood was pumping out of the end of her wrist, covering the ground and other people. Lexi's face was paler than the moon, and she kept biting her fingernails. Even though I tried to act brave, I couldn't help shaking and shivering, sending goose bumps to my neck.

Mr. Tall returned from the stage, picked up the bloody severed hand and gave a loud whistle. Two people wearing blue robes with hoods pulled down ran forward. They were short, not much bigger than me or Lexi, but with thick arms and legs, and lots of muscles. Mr. Tall man told the woman something, and she stopped screaming. He then took hold of the wrist, and then took out a brown pouch. He opened it and sprinkled sparkly pink powder on to the bleeding wrist. Then he stuck the hand against it and nodded to the two people in the blue suits. They took a pair of needles and loads of orange string, and started to stitch the hand back on to the wrist.

The people in the blue robes stitched for five or six minutes, but the woman didn't feel any pain. They then finished and walked away, when they were gone, Mr. Tall man let go of the woman's hand and moved back. He told her to move her fingers, and she gave them a wriggle. They moved! We all gasped, even the lady. It wasn't logical, it would have bleed until she was sent to the hospital but now, this freakishly tall man just sprinkled pink dust on it and stitched it, and now its fine? The woman wriggled them again, and shook it, but it was as good as new. There were the stitches, but there was no more blood.

"You will be ok, the stitches will fall out after a couple of days, it'll be fine after that," Mr. Tall told her.

"Maybe that's not good enough!" her husband shouted, "I'm her husband and I say we should go to a doctor and then the police! You can't let a wild animal like haout into a crowd! What if he'd bitten her head off?"

"Then she would be dead," Mr. Tall man said calmly, and I saw Lexi turn paler and looked as if she was going to faint. "Tell me sir, where were you when the wolf man was attacking?"

"Me?" The husband asked, turning red in the face so he represented a fat ripe tomato.

"Yes, you are her husband; you were sitting beside her when the beast escaped. Why did you not leap to her rescue?" Mr. Tall man carried on.

"Well, I…There was no time…I couldn't…I wasn't…"

No matter what he said, the husband couldn't win, because there was only one true answer: he had been running away, looking after himself.

"Listen to me," Mr. Tall man said, "I gave fair warning. I said this show could be dangerous. This is not a nice, safe circus where nothing goes wrong. Mistakes can and do happen, and sometimes people end up a lot worse off than your wife. That's why this show is banned. That's why we must play in old theatres in the middle of the might. Most of the time, things go smoothly and nobody gets hurt. But we cannot guarantee your safety." Mr. Tall man turned around in a circle and seemed to look everybody in the eye while turning. "We cannot guarantee anybody's safety," he roared, "Another accident like this is unlikely, but it could happen. Once again I say, if you are afraid, leave. Leave now, before it is too late!"

A few people did leave, but most stayed to see the rest of the show, even the woman who nearly lost her hand. Lexi looked like she wanted nothing more than leave, but she stayed in her seat and I felt a bit of respect for her. She liked Darren Shan so much that she would stay in this show so she could be like him. I was shaking in my black boots, but if she's not leaving, I'm not either.

As soon as Mr. Tall man had left the stage, the second freak, Alexander Ribs came on. He was more of a comedy act than a scary one, which was just what we needed to calm us down after the terrifying start. Even Lexi looked more human when he left.

Alexander Ribs was the skinniest man I'd ever seen. He looked like a skeleton, there seemed to be no flesh on him. He would have been frightening, except he had a wide friendly smile. Funny music played and he danced around the stage dressed in ballet clothes and looked so ridiculous that soon everyone was laughing, even Lexi managed out small giggles. After a while, he stopped dancing and began stretching. He said he was a contortionist, which is somebody with bones like rubber and can bend every way. First, he tilted his head back so far it looked like it had been cut off. He turned round so we could see his upside-down face, then went on leaning until his head was touching the floor. Then he put his hands round the backs of his legs a pulled his head through until it was sticking up in front of him. It looked like it was growing out of his stomach!

He got a huge round of clapping for that, and after he straightened up, he began twisting his body around like a straw, and he twisted five times around until his bones began to creak from the strain. He stood like that for a minute, and then began to unwind really fast. Next, he got two drumsticks with furry ends. He took the first drumstick and hit one of his bony ribs with it. He opened his mouth and a musical note sprang out, sounding like the noise pianos make. After a few notes, he began playing London Bridge, some songs by The Beatles, and theme tunes from a few T.V. shows. The skinny man then left the stage, and up came Rhamus Twobellies. He was as fat as Alexander was thin; the floorboards creaked as he walked out onto the stage.\

He walked close to the edge and kept pretending he was about to topple forward. I could see people in the front rows getting worried, and some jumped back out of the way when he got close. I don't blame them: he would have squashed them flat as a pancake if he fell! He stopped in the middle of the stage.

"Hello," he said. He had a low and squeaky voice. "My name is Rhamus Twobellies, and I really have two bellies! I was born with them, the same way certain animals are. The doctors were stunned and said I was a freak. That's why I joined this show and am here tonight."

The ladies who had hypnotized the wolf man came out with two trolleys full of food: cakes, chips, and hamburgers, packets of sweets and heads of cabbage.

"Yum-yum," Rhamus said, and pointed to a huge clock being lowered by ropes from above. "How long do you think it will take me to eat all this? There will be a prize for the person who guesses closest."

"An hour!" somebody yelled.

"Forty-five minutes!" somebody else roared. Soon, everybody was calling out. Lexi guessed thirty minutes, when I guessed twenty eight minutes, a number I liked. The lowest guess was seventeen minutes. When we were finished guessing, the lock started to tick and Rhamus started to eat. He ate like the wind, his arms moving so fast you could hardly see hem. His mouth didn't seem to close; he shoveled food in, swallowed and moved on. Everybody was amazed, and I felt like I could puke. Lexi was green in the face, and I covered her eyes with my cap. A puking Lexi is something you don't want to see. Finally, Rhamus scoffed the last bun and the clock about his head stopped ticking. Four minutes and fifty six seconds! He'd eaten all that food in less than five minutes! I could hardly believe it, it didn't seem possible.

"That was nice," Rhamus said, "But I could have done with more dessert." We clapped and laughed, and the ladies rolled the trolleys away, bringing on a new one loaded with glass statues, forks and spoons and bits of metal junk. I glanced over and saw that Lexi had begun to tremble, her face greener than a sprig of onion. I took out a plastic bag and held it for her while she did her business, even though I really didn't want to. When she was finished, Rhamus was done eating, and he had eaten all those things! He swallowed a long metal chain, and then shook his stomach. He gave a heave, and I saw the chain come out, with the spoons and forks wrapped around it. He had managed to poke the chain through the hoops inside his belly, it was unbelievable.

After him, a beautiful woman with long blonde hair wearing flowing red robes came up. Mr. Tall man stood behind her and smiled.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a very special act. Truska here is new to our family. She is one of the most incredible performers I have ever seen, with a truly unique talent." Mr. Tall man then walked off and Truska said something that sounded like seals barking. She put her hands on her face, one at either side, and stroked the skin gently. Then she held her nose shut with two fingers and tickled her chin with her other hand. An extraordinary thing happened; she began to grow a beard! Hairs crept out, first on her chin, then her upper lip then the sides of her face finally all over. It was long and blonde and straight. It grew about ten or eleven centimeters, then stopped. She took her fingers away from her nose and stepped down into the crowd where she walked around and let people pull on the beard and stroke it. The beard continued growing as she walked, until finally it reached down to her feet. It felt like your normal, average hair other than the fact it was extra ordinary. When she was back on the stage, Mr. Tall man asked if anybody had a pair of scissors. Many people did, including Lexi, and Mr. Tall man invited them including Lexi up.

"The cirque Du Freak will give one solid bar of gold to anyone who can slice off Truska's beard," he said, and held up a small yellow ingot to show he wasn't joking. That got a lot of people excited and we all tried cutting it off. Nothing could cut it through, but no one could. Not even with a pair of garden shears that Mr. Tall man handed out. When everyone admitted defeat, Truska stroked her cheeks and held her nose, but this time the beard grew back in. It took about two minutes for the hair to all disappear, back inside, and then she looked exactly the way she did before the act. After her, there was this man named Hans Hands who could do extra ordinary gymnastic tricks with using only his hands and arms. He pulled his legs around his neck, and walks up and down the stage, hopped off and challenged four men to a race. They could race on their feet; he'd race on his hands. He promised a bar of gold to anyone who could beat him. They used the aisles of the theatre as a race track, and despite his disadvantage, Hans beat the four men easily. He claimed he could sprint a hundred meters in eight seconds on his hands, proving that a person could manage just as well without legs as with him. Though it was interesting, it was pretty dull compared to the rest of the show, and Lexi looked bored. After a short pause after Hans had left, Mr. Tall man came on.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our next act is another unique and perplexing one. It can also be quite dangerous, so I ask that you make no noise and do not clap until you are told it is safe." Everyone went quiet; no one wants it to be like the wolf man again. When it was silent, Mr. Tall walked off and shouted out the name of the next freak s he went: "Mr. Crepsley and Madam Octa!"

The lights went down low and a creepy-looking man walked onto the stage. He was tall and thin, with very white skin and only a small crop of orange hair on the top of his head. He had a large scar running down his left cheek; it reached to his lips and made it look like his mouth was stretching up the side of his face. He carried a small wooden cage, which he put on a table. He bowed and smiled, but he looked even creepier and horrible when he smiled, reminding me of the zombies in the movie evil resident.

"It is not true that all tarantulas are poisonous," Mr. Crepsley said in a deep voice. "Most are as harmless as the spiders you find anywhere in the world. And those which are poisonous normally only have enough poison in them to kill very small creatures. But some are deadly! Some can kill a man with one bite. They are rare and only found in extremely remote areas, but they do exist. I have one such spider," he said and opened the door of the cage. Then, the largest spider I had ever seen crawled out. IT was green and purple and red, with long hairy legs and a gig fat body. I hated spiders, and this one was terrifying enough to make me want to leap out of my seat. The spider walked forward slowly, then it legs bent and it lowered its body, as though waiting for a fly.

"Madam Octa has been with me for several years," Mr. Crepsley said, "She lives far longer than ordinary spiders. The monk who sold her to me said some of her kind live to be twenty or thirty years old. She is an incredible creature, both poisonous and intelligent." While he was speaking, one of the blue-hooded people led a goat onto the stage. It was making a frightened bleating noise and kept trying to run. I guess if I were the goat, I would want to escape too. The hooded person tied it to the table and left.

The spider began moving when it saw and heard the goat. It crept to the edge of the table, where it stopped, as if awaiting an order. Mr. Crepsley produced a shiny tin whistle he called a flue and blew a few short notes. Madam Octa immediately leaped through the air and landed on the goat's neck.

The goat gave a leap when the spider landed and began bleating loudly. Madam Octa took no notice, hung on and moved a few centimeters closer to the head. When she was ready, she bared her fangs and sunk them deep into the goat's neck!

The goat froze and its eyes went wide. It stopped bleating and, a few seconds later, toppled over. It looked dead, but I could still see it breathing.

"This flute is how I control Madam Octa," Mr. Crepsley said, waving the flute slowly above his head. "Though we have been together such a long time, she is not a pet and would surely kill me if I ever lost it. The goat is paralyzed; I have trained Madam Octa not to kill outright with her first bite. The goat would die in the end, if we left it-there are no cure for Madam Octa's bite-but we shall finish it quickly." He blew on the flute and Madam Octa bit the goat again. The goat shivered and went totally still, dead. Madam Octa dropped from the goat and crawled towards the front of the stage. The people in the front rows became very alarmed and some jumped to their feet. But they froze at a short command from Mr. Crepsley.

"Do not move!" he hissed. "Remember your earlier warning: a sudden noise could mean death!" Madam Octa stopped at the edge of the stage, and then stood on her two back legs, the same as a dog! Mr. Crepsley blew softly on his flute and she began walking backwards, still on two feet. When she reached the nearest leg of the table, she turned and climbed up.

"You will be safe now," Mr. Crepsley said, "But please do not make any loud noses because if you do she might come after me." Madam Octa cocked her head, and then appeared to nod. She crawled across the table until she was in front of Mr. Crepsley. He lowered his right hand, and she crept up his arm. The thought of those long hairy legs creeping along his flesh made me sweat all over and I nearly chewed the inside of my cheek to pieces. I glanced quickly at Lexi, and saw that she was all pale and biting her fingernails so much that they were rough, uneven ends. When she got to the top of his arm, she scuttled along his shoulder, up his neck, over his ear and didn't stop until she reached the top of his head where she lowered her body, looking like a funny sort of hat. After a while Mr. Crepsley began playing the flute again. Madam Octa slid down the other side of his face, along the scar, and walked around until she was standing upside-down on his chin. Then she spun a string of web and dropped down on it. She was hanging about ten centimeters below his chin now, and slowly begun rocking from side to side. Soon she was swinging about level with his ears. Her legs were tucked in, and she looked like a ball of multi-colored wool. Then, as she made an upward swing, Mr. Crepsley threw his head back and she went flying straight up into the air. The thread snapped and she tumbled around and around. I watch her go up, and then come down. I thought she'd land on the floor or the table, but she didn't. Instead, she landed in Mr. Crepsley's mouth!

I nearly puked when I saw that, but the spider was a lot smarter. As she was falling, she'd stuck her legs out and they had caught on his lips. He bought his head forward, so we could see his face. His mouth was wide open, and Madam Octa was hanging between his lips like a balloon. Mr. Tall man then appeared with another flute. He was good enough to make madam Octa take notice; she listened then moved from one side of Mr. Crepsley's mouth to the other, spinning a web. When she was done, she lowered herself from his chin like she had before. Mr. Crepsley licked the web and ate the whole of it, then said that it was delicious. I wonder where he came from, if they ate spider webs. He made Madam Octa push a ball across the table, then got her to balance on top of it. He set up small pieces of gym gear, tiny weights and ropes and rings, and put her through her paces. She as able to do all the things a human could, like lift weights above her head and climb ropes and pull herself up on the rings. Then he brought out a tiny dinner set. There were mini plates and knives and forks and teeny weeny glasses. The plates were filled with dead flies and other small insects, the glasses filled with an amber liquid. Madam Octa ate that dinner as neatly as you please, she was able to pick up the knives and forks, four at a time and feed herself. There was even a fake saltcellar which she sprinkled over one of the dishes. When the act was over, Mr. Crepsley put the spider back in her cage and bowed while everyone clapped. I clapped too, although it wasn't fair to have the poor goat killed. Maybe they get to eat it for dinner? Even though I really hated spiders, Madam Octa was cool. Think of all the money I'd earn if I ever some how get to keep her and tame her, then put her on display?

"Lexi, are you ok?" I asked Lexi. She nodded her face pale, then her face got red and I thought tat she was going to suffocate.

"Ev, that's Darren!" she finally squealed. I rolled my eyes, slapping my forehead for ever thinking she was not well.

"We'll find him later, after the show,' I told her, and she seemed to calm down even though she giggled one time to another. After Mr. Crepsley's act, a lady named Gertha Teeth was next up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Gertha Teeth!" she said, and she sounded strict. "I have the strongest teeth in the world! When I was a baby, my father put his fingers in my mouth, playing with me, and I bit two of them off!" a few people laughed, but she stopped them with a furious look. "I am not a comedian!" she snapped. "If you laugh at me again, I will come down and bite your nose off!" That sounded quite funny, but nobody dared chuckle. She spoke loudly, ending every sentence with an exclamation mark.

"Dentists all over the world have been astounded by my teeth!" she said, "I have been examined in every major dental centre, but nobody had been able to work out why they are so tough! I have been offered huge amounts of money to become a guinea pig, but I like traveling and so I have refused!" She picked up four steel bars, each about thirty centimeters long, but different width. She asked for volunteers and four men went up on stage. She gave each of them a bar and said to try bending them. They did their best, but weren't able. When they had failed, she took the thinnest bar, put it in her mouth, and bit clean through it!

She handed the two halves back to one of the men, who put it in his own mouth and bit then howled when it almost cracked his teeth.

Gertha did the same to the second and third bars; each was which was thicker than the first. When it came to the fourth, the thickest of the lot, she chewed it to pieces like a chocolate bar. She then chewed a radiator and a bike into tiny balls, and then called more volunteers up. She gave one a sledgehammer and a large chisel, one a hammer and smaller chisel and the other an electric saw. She lay flat on her back and put the large chisel in her mouth. She nodded at the first volunteer to swing the sledge hammer at the chisel. The man raised it and brought it down, but Gertha rolled out of the way and spat the chisel out of her mouth.

"Hah!" she snorted, "How crazy do you think I am? I only called you up to show the sledgehammer is real! Now, watch!" She lay back again and stuck the chisel in her mouth. A blue hooded person took the sledgehammer and swung the sledgehammer at the chisel. Gertha sat up, and I thought that her teeth were going to fall out for sure. My father was a dentist, and I knew that there's no way she could survive that kind of thing. Yet, she removed the chisel and there wasn't a crack to be seen. The second volunteer nearly hammered his arm off at her teeth, but he wasn't able to harm them. The third volunteer tried sawing them off, but even though there were sparks, nothing happened.

The twisting twins Sive and Seersa came on after her. Were identical twins and they were like Alexander Ribs. They twisted around each other, and were pretty interesting but dull. When Sive and Seersa were finished, Mr. Tall man came out and thanked us for coming. I thought the freaks would come out again, but they didn't. Instead, Mr. Tall man said that we could buy stuff when we're exiting, and told us to mention the show to our friends, and that the show was over. I poked Lexi for her to come, but suddenly she started screaming, and others did too. She tried to climb up me, so I didn't get a good look, but then I pried her off and saw what she was screaming at: a huge snake was sliding down one of the poles towards the people at the bottom!

The snake looked hungry, it was dark green with a few flecks of brighter colors here and there, and it looked deadly but I knew that it was a boa, which crushes people to death other than biting them. I told that to Lexi, but that only made her scream louder. I leaned towards the snake, staring at it in fascination. It was so cute, and huge, I would be able to wrap my hands around it and give it a hug without any space left out. It was about to slither to the floor when a strong light fixed itself to the snake's faced. It froze, and stared into the light. I looked back on the stage, and saw a boy up there. He was about fourteen or fifteen, a couple of years older than us with long yellowy green hair. His eyes were oddly shaped, narrow like the snake and he was dressed in a long white robe. The boy made a hissing noise and raised his arms above his head. The robe fell and everyone gasped, his body was covered in scales! He turned around, and I saw that his back was also covered in scales, but a few shades darker as snakes usually were. So this was the snake boy I had been so eager to see. When he faced us again, he lay down on his bell and slid off the stage, just like a snake, something I had been trying to do for ages without success. He stood when he reached the floor and walked towards the snake. I saw that he had slightly webbed hands and feet. He stopped a few meters from the pillars and crouched down. The light had been switched off and the snake began to move again, and the boy made an odd hissing sound. The snake boy moved to his left, then towards the left, and the snake's head followed him but didn't lunge. The boy crept closer to the snake, and tickled the snake. Then, the snake wrapped itself around he boy's neck IT coiled about him a couple of times, leaving it's tail draped over his shoulder and down his back like a scarf. The boy stroked the snake and smiled. I thought he was going to walk and let us touch it, but he didn't. The snake unwrapped, and it opened its mouth so wide that I could see fangs. That was not a boa, but something that looked like a boa but is poisonous. I saw Lexi gave a little squeal of horror and curled into a ball in her seat. The boy then stuck his head inside the snake's mouth, then wrapped the snake around and around until he looked like a rolled up carpet, and hopped around on the stage. Lexi was moaning in fear, but really, he looked kind of ridiculous hopping around.

"And that, really is the end," Mr. Tall man said from a corner, and vanished in a puff of smoke. When it cleared, I saw the exit with people selling things. I got my stuff and pulled Lexi, and after telling her for the nth time that there are no more snakes, she finally uncurled and followed me to buy some goodies. There were all kinds of stuff, like cotton candy spider webs (ha, said Lexi), glass statues, chocolate made nuts and bolts, rubber figures of Madam Octa and the people, some plushy snakes, clippings of the wolf man's hair, snake venom (Lexi nearly fainted) and rubber figures of the snake. Lexi got some cotton candy webs, chocolate bolts, rubber figures of all the characters, and some clippings of the wolf man's hair for Amber. I got a bottle of snake venom, a plushy of the snake, some cotton candy webs and the rubber figure of the snake boy, with the figures of Sive and Seersa for Fiona.

"Wasn't the act cool?" I asked Lexi, but she was busily looking for Darren.

"I don't see them," she said, glancing above everyone's heads.

"I think they left already," I told her, not exactly lying for I don't know where he is either.

"The show was awesome, other than the snake, and Rhamus Twobellies made me feel sick, but they are all so cool! If Truska wasn't a freak, she would have been a really good model, don't you agree?" Lexi said, playing with the rubber figure of Truska.

"Yeah, but that snake was just so cool, I was so sure that it was a boa, but it turned out to be something poisonous! And that boy, he was so awesome, he could slide on his stomach and he could talk to that snake! If I could talk to snakes, I would be the coolest people on earth ever!" I exclaimed, the snake plushy around my neck like a scarf.

"Hey, who do you like better, the snake boy or Steve?" Lexi suddenly asked me, grinning.

"How am I supposed to know?" I asked her for I really don't know. Steve was kind and cool and funny, and he looked cute with his shoulder length black hair and pale skin. Other than the fact he was obsessed with vampires and werewolves. The snake boy had awesome powers, if you could call them powers, and he wasn't that bad looking either, but I don't even know him.

"I wish Darren had been sitting with us," Lexi said dreamily, looking at the stars. We were almost at my house when we heard someone scream far away.

"What was that?" Lexi asked, giggling, "It sounded like a boy but the scream was girlish."

"I don't know, it sounded like Darren to me," I said mockingly, and she threw her bag at me. But, amazingly, it really did sound kind of like Darren.

"However it is, I don't want to stay to find out," I told her and we ran to my house where we took a quick shower and went to bed.

"Ev, are you awake?" Lexi asked.

"Yeah, it was just such a cool show!" I replied, looking at the glow in the dark stars I have on my ceiling.

"Ev, who do you like better, I mean, who is your crush?" Lexi asked again. I sighed and rolled on to my side so I was facing the wall.

"I like Steve boy," I told her.

That's a mixture of them, that doesn't count! Evan…" Lexi whined, but I didn't answer her, so she fell silent. After a few minutes, I fell asleep too.


	4. Chapter 3

Oh my gosh, I already got four reviews! Thanks you guys!! I love you! Well, not really…Darren loves you!

Darren: hey, I do NOT!

Me: be nice, Darren

Darren: Fine…I love you all! Lots of hugs and kisses, bleh…I'd rather kiss Mika!

Mika: you WHAT?

Darren…ah…nevermind, I was kind of…sleeptalking. Yes, I was sleeptalking!

Ok, so much for Darren being a 'sweet, mature prince', I guess he is still very much childish, but you get what he means. Anyways, I can't really update that fast, cuz school started and I have like lots of pre algebra homework (DIE, prealgebra! GAH!), and since I joined the volleyball team and the kendo club. But, I'll try to update as soon as I can !

* * *

"Oh my gosh that would have been freaky, I don't know how you survived it!" Fiona squealed out of the phone. It was Sunday morning, and Fiona had called us right after we woke up.

"I know, but I stayed calm and cool while everyone screamed and jumped out of their seats, I knew it couldn't harm me, but it was at least as fat as my waist!" Lexi squealed back. I stifled a giggle, Lexi was talking about the snake incident to Fiona, and she's making herself look oh so brave.

"Lexi, what if I tell her the truth?" I whispered, and Lexi stuck her tongue out at me.

"Well, I have to go to church now, I can't wait to get my souvenirs, and they're going to be awesome!" Fiona said one more time, and then hung up.

"Who did you think that person screaming yesterday night was?" Lexi asked me. I shrugged, because it still sounded like Darren to me and my hearing's great.

"I don't know, maybe it's this crazy person who accidentally wore his pants inside out?" I suggested, and we burst into a fit of giggles at the thought of someone walking down the street with their clothes inside out.

"Maybe we can ask Darren if it was him," Lexi said, and I threw some cereal at her.

"No, you doof, if we tell him then he'll know that we went, and he'll be able to tell on us!" I said.

"Well, they'll have to give themselves in, don't they?" Lexi said, throwing more cereal back at me.

"Well yes but I'm not taking the risk!" I said, and pushed away my bowl. "Come on, we need to get you packed so you won't forget any socks and stink up my room," and hurried back to my room.

After Lexi left, I lay on my bed and stared out the window. There was no one outside, for they were all either at church or chilling out at home. I sighed and took out an Artemis Fowl novel and began sketching the characters. After half and hour or so, the torn sheet of paper was filled with realistic fairies, people, dwarves, pixies, sprites and centaurs. With a tiny smile, I began sketching the main character, the mysterious vampire-like genius Artemis Fowl. Wait, his hair needs to be longer, his jaw stronger and his eyes need to be more…wiser, not like a turtle's…

"Butt head, what is this? Ooh, you sneaked apple juice to your room, you're in big trouble, you stupid idiot, I'm going to tell mommy," a voice said from my door way, picking up the jar of snake venom I had left on my dresser table.

"Put it down now!" I said, glaring at her, "and I told you not to come in without knocking!" It was my seven year old sister, and even though she was about half my age, she had managed to be the most annoying person I had ever seen in my whole life, and even though she was merely a hundred twenty centimeters tall, she had the strength of my mother and the weight of a ten year old.

"No I'm not, and you're not the boss of me so I don't have to listen to you," She said, sniggering and shaking the bottle.

"Put it down now!" I shouted at her, throwing a random book at her. Goal, it struck her arm, which caused her to put the jar down on to my bed.

"Ow, mommy said that you're not supposed to hit me, you're in so much trouble, crazy dung, I'm telling mommy," she said, and ran away. "I'm leaving your room because I want to not because you told me to!"

"Good riddance," I grumbled and slammed the door shut so hard that my poster of Josh Hutcherson fell off. I walked over and pinned it up again, then resumed in sketching. 'Oh Artemis, what would you do if you were in my place?' I thought, out lining his slightly hooked nose that gave him a pompous and sly but mysterious look. All I got in return was the sly, knowing smile that I was trying to draw.

The rest of the day went pretty quickly, I had to wash the car, vacuum the living room, wash the dishes and memorize ten vocab words, part of the punishment my parents gave me for hitting my sister. On the bright side, she had to do three math work books, memorize ten vocab words and help with the garden because she didn't knock. On Monday, nothing was much different, the same old classes, same old lunch, same old homework.

"It sounds so cool," Amber said, pulling a comb through her tangled blonde hair, "I wish I had been there now, even though it sounded boring. I mean, it would be so cool to draw them down."

"I know, I want to see that Truska and Gertha teeth so much, their talents are amazing! I heard of people having strong teeth that could bite through wood, but through metal? That's way too coolio for schoolio!" Fiona exclaimed, poking at the jelly designs on my locker.

"Hey, it's not just that awesome, the stuff they sell are awesome too! Ta da!" I said, presenting to them their souvenirs. Fiona practically died of happiness.

"This is so coolio!" she squealed, fingering the figures of Sive and Seersa. Amber felt the sharp hairs of the wolf man, and declared that they are the coolest hair she'd ever seen.

"Maybe I could tell my hair dresser to give me that kind of hair style the next time I go for a treatment!" she said, sniffing it. "It smells like burnt rubber, kind of." Even though I putted on a happy go lucky act, I could feel tension in the air. Between who, I know not, but I could just feel it, like you can feel the wind on a summer day.

"Lexi, can you feel tension?" I asked her quietly. Sometimes, she was able to feel them too for some reason.

"Of course not, you must be too sleepy," Lexi said, and resumed in talking about the newest Mariah Carey CD. I turned my lock a few times, and putted my new drawing of the Artemis Fowl cast on to the locker door.

"Amb, do you think this is good enough? I didn't put color in yet because I'm afraid I'll ruin it," I asked Amber, because she is the anime fan and knew what good drawings look like.

"It's so cute!" Fiona said, fingering Holly Short in her snow suit.

"I know, Artemis looks so awesome in this one, much better than your old one," Lexi said, poking at Artemis, "although I think he's a bit too tall, he's almost as tall as Butler."

"I think Butler can be more…serious and tough looking, he looks kind of like a phony in this one, and Opal Koboi looks way too much like Scarlet Johansson, and Holly is way too un-elf like, she looks way too pretty! Over all, it's better than the rest," Amber said, "and I think Artemis' eyes kind of pops out a bit if you look at him sideways."

"Oh, stop being such a spoilsport!" Lexi said, and I rolled my eyes. I never seem to get Butler right in any drawings, and I never know how to draw Opal.

"...and Artemis looks sort of like you-know-who," Amber added in a whisper, and I pushed her away, trying hard not to blush.

"I feel so bad today," Lexi suddenly said, after having a fit of giggles from a joke Fiona told her.

"Why, from laughing too much?" I asked her mockingly.

"No, its Darren (rolls eyes) he looks so pale and worried, and he's just so…not like himself today," she said, pointing at Darren. Indeed, he looked pale and tense as if something was going to jump out at him.

"Stop worrying about him!" I told her punching her slightly on her shoulder, "He's probably just sleepy or something."

"Hey, maybe I should try plan B now," Lexi said, and sprinted towards Darren.

"Oh no, she's going to get it," I said, slapping my forehead and the others nodded their heads grimly. A few moments later, she came back grimly.

"He said no?" Fiona asked her.

"Not exactly, Tommy Jones got them tickets to watch the soccer cup, and it's on the day of the dance! Why is that? Is soccer more important than me to him?" Lexi demanded. "Or am I just a burlap sack of rotten cauliflower full of worms?"

"Oh yes!" Amber exclaimed, and we all turned to her with disbelieving stares.

"What?" she said innocently, finally putting down the magazine, "the editors are finally putting Ino back into the story and Ino is my favorite character!" We all groaned and rolled our eyes, just leave it to Amber for making comic world seem like a real place.

"Ah, well, then we don't have to go to the dance, then?" I asked her hopefully.

"No, I'm still going. There may be cuter boys there!" Lexi said happily, and we all groaned again.

"Why do we have to go to all these dances?" I asked her, "all we do is dance in eat and dance and listen to you talk about boys." Fiona asked, and we nodded.

"Because it's fun!" Lexi declared and threw popcorn at us.

"How about a sleepover at my house then?" Amber suggested, and Lexi immediately agreed with the rest of us following suit.

"That would be way so coolio!" Lexi exclaimed.

"Way too coolio for schoolio," I agreed, nodding my head. Anything's cooler than going to that boring dance.

Amber's house could be said as the grandest house of us four. Even though Lexi's house was respectably bigger, it was a lot more old fashioned and does not have the modern entertainments Amber's house have.

Amber's house was a mansion with a large basement that is basically a tennis court. Other than that, her room was basically the same size as our living room, with her own forty two inch screen T.V and a bathtub the size of my room. Of course, her room was covered with anime drawings, posters, and life size anime figures but it feels so good to take a bath in her super size bathtub and sleep on her super cool water bed twice the size of your average queen size bed.

"It's not much, we just moved here last year," Amber had told us when we first arrived there, but it is much, don't you agree?

"Come on up to my room," Amber yelled from the top of the stairs, "my sister's boy friend is coming in half an hour and if you don't want to run into him, I would advise you to come up!" Amber had a college aged sister, Sophia, and although her style is awesome, she makes the worst boyfriends. So we ran up the fur carpeted stairs and threw our stuff on to the floor. Other than the fact that she gained a lot more figure skating statuettes, she also had bought a lot of new Naruto figures that spread throughout her room.

"Your room is awesome, but why on earth do you like anime so much?" Lexi asked, bouncing on the water bed.

"I like anime, it rocks my socks," was her reply, and Amber opened her T.V.

"Hey, I got a new movie, what is it called again? Oh yeah, Resident evil, I got the DVD." Amber said, tossing me a DVD.

"That's effing coolio!" I yelled, waving it around, "let's watch it!"

"Oh no, it will give me nightmares," Lexi whined, but Amber and Fiona loved that movie as much as I do so I stuck it into the DVD player, Amber tossed us some popcorn, and Fiona turned all the lights off.

It was about this virus called the T virus that turned every dead body into zombies that are stupid but tries to eat humans. The good thing was that the virus was trapped underground in this 'hive' belonging to the umbrella cooperation, and this ultra intelligent computer controls everything there. Twenty people or so went down to find out what caused everyone in the hive to die, but then since they were contacted with the virus as soon as they went in, the computer tried to kill them all to prevent them from going out and spreading the germs to the world. But then five people made it alive to the main room and restarted the computer system, and _then_ they learned that the computer was the good guy, and that they had accidentally activated the T virus and every corpse there was a zombie that tried to kill them.

Finally, only two people were alive because this mutant monkey thing killed all the others. At the end of the movie, all of us were shivering even though we watched it a lot of times already.

"Can we turn the lights on?" Lexi whimpered, and we switched it on.

"That was freaky," Fiona whispered, clutching the popcorn bowl.

"I told you it'll give me nightmares," Lexi moaned, pretending to faint onto the water bed.

"About what?" I asked her, "about evil mutant monkeys with butt shaped heads coming to kill you and turn you into a zombie?" at that, we all laughed.

"Partly," Lexi said, muffled by the blankets, "and the zombies are truly fashion disasters!"

"Lexi, you're impossible," I told her, and threw a pillow at her that gradually became a pillow fight. After that, we went for a swim at her outdoor swimming pool and had a game of tennis. We were all oh so happy, and it was so fun.

"Maybe you guys can come over to my house to play next Sunday?" I suggested, and they all agreed to come if I get permission.

"And maybe to my house the week after your party!" Lexi added, "where we can pretend we're old grannies who stick their pinkies out when they drink tea!" we all burst into fits of laughter, and had to hold on to the walls to stop us from falling. Nothing could ruin this chain of parties; we're all best friends, right? I had thought. How wrong was I, I never got the chance to go to Lexi's party.


	5. Chapter 4

Hey…I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating anything for a long time! It's just that there is soooo much homework. Anyways, I won't be updating anything for a week, cuz we're going on a camping trip!! I've already finished up to thirty chapters, but I haven't updated them yet, so yeah. Please be patient and wait for them!!

* * *

"I decided on something," Lexi suddenly announced at lunch next Wednesday.

"What is it that you're going to buy the pink lipstick even though you match peach much better?" Fiona asked, picking out the peas from her macaronis and cheese.

"No, I've decided that I don't like Darren Shan anymore," Lexi said, spooning her jelly and stuffing the whole thing into her mouth. "He's not worth fighting over for."

"Good choice, Lex, Darren is too wimpy," Amber told her, "No!"

"What no?" I asked her, frowning.

"They decided that Sasuke will die in the final battle, no!" Amber cried, banging her head on the table, earning stares from the next table.

"Okaaay…so, who's your new crush, Lexi?" I asked her. If she didn't like Darren any more, I'm a hundred and fifty percent sure that she would have a new crush.

"It's Steve Leonard," She declared, then laughed at my horrified face. "Just kidding, Evan, its Tommy Jones. He is so much better at soccer than old Darren is!" I sighed and stabbed a pea with my knife. Leave it to Lexi to change crushes so fast.

"He was egging you to punch Marietta in the face, you know?" Fiona reminded her, thinking back on to the last dance.

I had to stuff my mouth with a mouthful of cheese to stop myself from laughing. In that last dance, Lexi had had a fight with our ex-friend mademoiselle Marietta, who apparently accused Lexi of copying her clothe line and in reply Lexi had yanked Marietta's hair which started a fight between them. The fight ended with Marietta covered from head to toe with cake, and Lexi dripping wet with punch, both sprinkled with pink and white confetti.

"Yeah, but still, he's so much cooler and better than sucky Darren Shan," Lexi said, as if it explains everything.

I rolled my eyes at that; I have better things to do than bother with her list of crushes, like watching the grass die. Then, I got a black out. Things swirled in my head, sparks flew, and I grabbed on to Fiona for support.

"Hey, Evan, what's going on?" She shrieked, grabbing hold of me.

"Nothing," I managed to say, wishing that my voice wasn't so high pitched, "just fell over." I met Lexi's eyes, and saw that we both knew it was the dizzy spell that comes and goes when something out of the world will happen. Later, after lunch, she caught up with me.

"Is it one of those…dizzy spells?" she asked in a hushed voice. Even though she was so bubbly and cheerful, she knew the danger those dizzy spells bring even if it only happened once before, when she felt one of her relatives die.

"Yes…" I said back, frowning. "But I think…this one has nothing to do with us. It has to do with spiders…"

"Yuck, I hate spiders," Lexi winced, shuddering.

"Shut up," I snapped, "I'm trying to concentrate. That spider was…unusually familiar and I think there's also Darren Shan involved for some reason." Lexi's eyes popped open.

"Darren Shan, oh god dang it," she cried in exasperation. "If he's involved, who knows how much trouble there is? I can feel his emotions stronger than I can feel anyone else's, and he's always happy these days since Monday."

I gave her a weird look. How come I hadn't been feeling any emotions coming from Darren? All the emotions I felt were from Steve Leopard and he's always…either sad or angry these days. Does it have to do with Darren Shan?

(My diary)

Thursday

Dear Diary,

Why is this happening? I can't feel emotions like I used to, and everything I feel and see makes me tense. It only happened after the Cirque Du Freak; does it have anything to do with that Mr. Tall man, or perhaps someone else in the Cirque? Strangely, I feel as if I had met Mr. Tall man before, and he's not my enemy. Are my senses for telling right from wrong going bad?

Friday

Dear Diary,

I have a feeling that Darren Shan is going to be on the move tomorrow for some reason. He's acting weird, kind of. He scored twenty eight goals this week, and his grades are getting better. I didn't tell Lexi the truth, I can feel Darren's emotions and he's getting happier and happier. Darren lives in my neighborhood, and at night I could hear him playing an instrument that sounds freakily familiar. Maybe I should spy on him…

Saturday

Dear Diary,

Major badness, I feel woozy. I had been to the bathroom at least five times per hour, throwing up over and over again. I don't have a fever; I can tell that this wooziness is coming from that dizzy spell. I can feel Steve's emotions again: agony, agony so great that I feel as if my head's about to burst. My mom's worried about me, she wants to take me to the hospital, but I said no. I can't risk them finding about my emotion things.

Sunday

Dear Diary,

I know what caused Steve's agony madness, I just found out: he's in a coma, and is in the hospital. He was at Darren's house, and then later Darren came screaming that he went to the bathroom and suddenly Steve was there, lying on the ground. The doctors say that it's some kind of poison that's not been seen yet. It sounds fishy; I bet Darren knows more than he says. Oh, I hope Steve's alright.

(Back to my POV on Sunday Night)

It is night, eleven o'clock near midnight. I had been to seen Steve in the hospital, and he's so not better. His face, which was already pale, was turning a bit gray like old oatmeal, and he was so still. I had leaned over him, and saw why he had a coma: he had to bite marks on his neck, similar to a spider's bite. Wait, a spider…Darren Shan…he must have been bitten by one of those grotesque spiders Darren keeps in his room!

Curse that bastard Darren Shan, if he doesn't die of guilt, I'll kill him myself for hurting Steve. I had left some dark red roses that look black at his room, roses that I have used a spell on. It wasn't really a spell, just some words I say when dizzy spells come.

Hey, isn't that Darren Shan? I clambered to my window and put on my glasses. There, running along the street, was Darren Shan. He looked like he had sneaked out and is running away…before he gets blamed for Steve's coma. That cowardly maggot! Guilt didn't kill him after all…maybe I can scare him, just for fun? I quickly pulled on some jeans, a black shirt, my adidas sneakers and a leather coat and opened my window. I was about to jump out when I remembered something: to bring the silver dagger that was supposed to be an ornament but still was sharp. There, I was ready if he tries to kick me in the head with some soccer ball or something.

I jumped out of the window, and into some mulberry bushes. Ouch, I forgot about them. Oh well, no time to worry about scraped knees and bleeding elbows, there's revenge to be getting.

I zipped up my jacket and sprinted after him. Why, of all routes, did he have to choose this one? Oh well, this route was dark and shady, with lots of shadows for me to hide in. It's a good thing that he doesn't have great hearing, for if he does he'll have heard the stomps of my feet a long time ago. I wonder where he is going; I never went to this part before. The air was cold, and I could feel my sweat turn cold and my nose started to get cold. Oh drat, my room feels so much better compared to this, with my computer, my radio, my heater…Stop thinking about those! I said to myself, it's not going to help me in anyway…hey, where did he go?

I spun around; if he's behind me then I'm dead, but no. This part looked so familiar, but there are no houses except one that looked so familiar…Oh, it was the place where the Cirque Du Freak had played. Why on earth is Darren going there, maybe he left something there? NO time to think. I tiptoed to the giant empty mansion and walked through the open door. There seemed to be no one inside, but I saw a small spot of light bobbing further and further away down the corridor: Darren. Picking up speed, I chased after him. No wait, I'll go on the balcony so he won't be able to see me. Hey, but I have no idea how to get to the balcony…maybe I'll just hide behind some crates or something…

I saw Darren turn into a room lit by candles, and a person sat at table playing cards with himself- Mr. Crepsley a.k.a. the spider master. Good, there were crates labeled: asparagus sprouts by the doorway, and so I ducked behind them. Gross, I hate asparaguses, but at least I had a clear view of them.

"Good morning, Master Shan," Mr. Crepsley said, not looking up.

"It's not morning, it's the middle of the night," Darren squeaked in a squeaky voice. If I hadn't been in this situation, I would have laughed.

"To me, that is the morning," Mr. Crepsley replied, and grinned at Darren. I couldn't see his teeth, but I think Darren did and take steps back. Isn't Mr. Crepsley just a spider master? Why is Darren scared of his teeth then; maybe he has spider venom in his teeth?

"You've been waiting for me, haven't you," Darren asked.

"Yes," Mr. Crepsley nodded.

"How long have you known where Madam Octa was?" Darren asked. Isn't Madam Octa that spider Mr. Crepsley owned? Then I gasped silently with realization; Darren had stolen Madam Octa from him and now she had bitten Steve!

"I found her the night you stole her," M. Crepsley said.

"Why didn't you take her then?" asked Darren. Mr. Crepsley did this shoulder movement that looked like a shrug.

"I was going to, but I got to thinking about the sort of boy who would dare steal from a vampire, and I decided you might be worth further study," M. Crepsley said.

"Why?" Darren asked, his knees knocking together. I would have called him a coward, if only my knees weren't knocking together.

"Why indeed?" Mr. Crepsley said in a mocking voice, and cracked his knuckles.

"Tell me, Darren Shan, why have you come? Is it to steal from me again? Do you still desire Madam Octa?" Mr. Crepsley asked. Darren shook his head.

"I never want to see that monster again!" he snarled.

"She will be so sad to hear that," Mr. Crepsley laughed.

"Don't make fun of me, I don't like being teased!" Darren said, trying to sound angry, but his teeth chattered.

"No, and what will you do if I continue?" Mr. Crepsley asked him. Darren pulled out two objects that I couldn't see, but I guessed that it was probably some weapons. If it's not, then Darren's probably so stupid.

"I'll strike you with these!" Darren shouted in a shaking voice. Instead, Mr. Crepsley clicks his fingers and the items flew into his hands. Leaning forward, I saw that it was a cross and some holy water. I had to stop myself from groaning. How on earth are these supposed to harm him? Mr. Crepsley squeezed the cross into a ball, and drank the holy water.

"You know what I love? I love people who watch lots of horror movies and read horror books. Because they believe what they read and hear, and come packing silly things like crosses and holy water, instead of weapons which could do real damage like guns and hand grenades." Mr. Crepsley said. I studied my dagger; it should be hard enough to harm people with.

"You mean…crosses don't…hurt you?" Darren stammered.

"Why should they?" Mr. Crepsley asked which was what I want Darren to answer. Why indeed did they bring those items? They don't hurt anything, and I bet they don't hurt vampires even if they do exist and I'm sure that those don't.

"Because you're…evil," Darren said, still stammering.

"Am I?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

"Yes, you must be, you're a vampire. Vampires are evil," Darren said. I almost laughed. How old is Darren, three? Vampires don't exist!

"You should not believe everything you are told," Mr. Crepsley said, "It is true that our appetites are rather exotic. But just because we drink blood doesn't mean that we are evil. Are vampire bats evil when they drink the blood of cows and horses?" Ok, so they must either be some kind of horror story freaks, for just plain wrong in the head.

"No, but that's different. They're animals," Darren said.

"Humans are animals too," Mr. Crepsley said, if a vampire kills a human, then yes, he is evil. But on who just takes a little blood to fill his rumbling belly…Where is the harm in that?"

"I see you are not in the mood for a debate," Mr. Crepsley carried on, "Very well. I will save the speeches for another time. So tell me, Darren Shan: what is it you want if not my spider?"

"She bit Steve Leonard," Darren said. So my estimation was true, that monster really did bet Steve.

"The one known as Steve Leopard is a nasty business. Still, little boys who play with things they do not understand can hardly complain if-"Mr. Crepsley said. I had to bit on my lips to stop myself from jumping out. Steve was NOT a nasty business.

"I want you to make him better!" Darren yelled at him. That was the one average, normal thing he did all night.

"I? But I am not a doctor. I am not a specialist. I am just a circus performer. A freak, remember?" Mr. Crepsley said feigning surprise.

"No, you're more. I know you can save him. I know you have the power." Darren said.

"Maybe, Mr. Crepsley said, "Madam Octa's bite is deadly, but fore every poison there exists an antidote. Maybe I do have the cure. Maybe I have a bottle of serum which will restore your friend's natural physical functions."

"Yes!" Darren shouted.

"But maybe," Mr. Crepsley said, "it is a small bottle. Maybe there is only a tiny amount of serum. Maybe it is very precious. Maybe I want to save it for a real emergency, in case Madam Octa ever bites me. Maybe I do not want to waste it on an evil little brat." Hatred flamed in me. I don't like people who call Steve an evil little brat. But I was in no position to argue, that man looked dangerous.

"No," Darren said softly, "You have to give it to me. You have to use it on Steve. He's dying. You can't let him die."

"I most certainly can," Mr. Crepsley laughed, "What is your friend to me? You heard him the night he was here: he said he would become a vampire hunter when he grew up!"

"He didn't mean it," Darren gasped, "He only said that because he was angry." Ha, Steve would want revenge, like I do. Any normal person would.

"Perhaps," Mr. Crepsley said. "But again, I ask why should I save Steve Leopard? The serum was expensive and cannot be replaced."

"I can pay for it," Darren begged.

"Pay for it? But you are only a boy. You cannot possibly have enough money to buy the cure," Mr. Crepsley said slyly. I knew that he had been waiting for that.

"I'll pay in bits, every week for fifty years or as long as you want. I'll get a job when I grow up and give you all my money. I swear,' Darren promised.

"No, your money does not interest me," Mr. Crepsley said, shaking his head slowly.

"What does interest you? I'm sure you have a price. That's why you waited for me, isn't it?" Darren said in a low voice.

"You are a clever young man," Mr. Crepsley said, "I knew that when I woke up to find my spider gone and your note in her place. I said to myself, 'Larten, there goes a most remarkable child, a true prodigy. There goes a boy who is going places'."

": Quit with the bull and tell me what you want," Darren snarled. Mr. Crepsley laughed.

"You remember what Steve Leopard and I talked about?" he asked.

"Of course," Darren replied, "He wanted to become a vampire. You said hew as too young, so he said he'd become your assistant. That was all right by you but then you found out he was evil, so you said no." Darren said. I felt my blood turn cold; Steve wanted to become a vampire? That was…so out of the world. I mean, I'm kind of obsessed with vampires and demons too, like him, but vampires don't exist, that's the truth!

"That about sums it up," Mr. Crepsley agreed. "Except, if you recall, I was not too keen on the idea of an assistant. They can be useful but also a burden."

"Where's all this leading?" I asked.

"I have had a rethink since then," Mr. Crepsley said. "I decided it might not be such a bad thing after all, especially now that I have been separated from the Cirque Du Freak and will have to fend for myself. An assistant could be just what the witch doctor ordered."

"You mean you'll let Steve become your assistant now?" Darren asked.

"Heavens, no!" Mr. Crepsley yelped. "That monster? There is no telling what he will do as he matures. No, Darren Shan, I do not want Steve Leopard to be my assistant." He pointed at Darren.

"You want me!" Darren sighed.

"Smart little boy," Mr. Crepsley cooed in a disgusting false voice, "almost as smart as the little girl hiding behind the asparagus crates."


	6. Chapter 5

I gasped, how on earth did he know where I was?

"What girl, I don't see any girl there," Darren said squinting at the crates. Of course he didn't see me; I had chosen my spot well. I thought about running away. No, that wouldn't solve anything. He might chase after me and kill my family! So that goes for Plan B, a stupid plan that only has a fifty percent chance of winning. I kicked the crates out of my way, leaped out and unsheathed my dagger.

"If you know about me, then you'll know about my dagger. I'm not a fool who brings crosses and holy water," I snarled, trying to act brave. Holy, that spider master looked even uglier up close, I want to puke. Did he ever hear about a barber? His hair is so ugly. Mr. Crepsley laughed, and walked towards me. Oh no, he's going to kill me.

"Cho? What are you doing here?" Darren asked, surprised. Darren, that's it! I jumped behind Darren and placed the dagger in front of his neck.

"ARGH! She's MURDERING ME! HELP, MR. CREPSLEY! Help!" Darren screamed, but he didn't move.

"I was in your class for a year and you still don't know my name?" I asked him with surprise, "You're duller than I think." Mr. Crepsley was laughing again.

"So, you're going to kill him. Go ahead then," Mr. Crepsley said.

"HELP, SOMEBODY, HELP, A CRAZY WITCH IS KILLING ME!" Darren shrieked.

"If you come closer, I'm going to kill him," I hissed, grabbing him tighter. Actually, my hand was shaking; I had never killed anyone before.

"Go ahead, see if he's anything to me," Mr. Crepsley sneered mockingly, and I felt my temper rise again. I pushed my dagger so a tiny scrape appeared, then let go of him.

"You're right, I can't kill him, but I can certainly do this!" I cried, throwing the knife at Mr. Crepsley. With in human speed, he reached out, grabbed it in midair, and bent it into a ball like he did with a cross.

"Demon!" I finally spat out, paling.

"Vampire, weren't you listening?" Darren said, still shaking. As if I care Crepsley is a vampire or a demon!

"I won't kill you…yet," Mr. Crepsley said, laughing.

"Evan, what are you doing here?" Darren hissed angrily.

"It's none of your business!" I snapped to him. "If Steve dies, it's your fault!"

"So, this little lady is also trying to save Steve Leopard? My, my," Mr. Crepsley said, laughing.

"No I'm not! I was…Darren is fishy so I decided to follow him!" I spat, turning red. It was annoying when Lexi teases me about Steve, but now I don't want anyone talking about him.

"You followed Darren because he is fishy?" Mr. Crepsley asked, raising a thin eyebrow. Ugh, he looks even creepier now.

"Yes, if he had any guilt he wouldn't be running away."

"I…I was just coming for help!" Darren stammered.

"Well, you're doing such a fine job with it!" I yelled, "Steve is dying here and you're not doing a thing because it's your entire fault!"

"You guys have two choices each. Darren, you either become a vampire or save Steve, or leave and Steve dies. Young lady, its vampire or death now."

"Why does he get to go and I don't?" I stammered, "It's not fair! Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean…"

"Life isn't air," Mr. Crepsley snarled, "I would kill Darren too but two people from the same neighborhood suddenly dead is way too suspicious. Now decide!"

"Thanks a lot, loser," I snapped at Darren, "Now I have to be a bloodsucker or die!"

"My fault? You're the one who followed me!" Darren cried.

"Yeah, but if an arrogant air headed bastard haven't stolen that monster the first time neither of us would be here!" I shrieked into his face. Darren fell silent; he knew that this was his fault.

"So Steve has…" Darren started, but Mr. Crepsley interrupted him.

"Wait, I've been thinking. Now, I'll only save Steve if both of you become my assistants."

"You freak!" I screamed, and threw the sheath at him, but he caught it just as easily as one would catch a tennis ball and rolled it into a ball. "I was about to choose death but now you won't help Steve?"

"I am a freak; this is a freak show, isn't it?" Mr. Crepsley said slyly.

"Fine!" I screamed into the air, "I'll become a bleeding bloodsucker just because a shit brained asshole was too stupid to play with something he didn't have control over and I can't let innocent bystanders die for me!" then I turned to Darren. "You're going to be a vampire too, if I have to force you to!"

"Tell me more about being a vampire's assistant," Darren said. Mr. Crepsley smiled.

"You will be my traveling companion; you will travel with me across the world. You will be my eyes and hands during the day. You will guard me while I sleep. You will find food for me if it is scarce. You will take my clothes to the laundry. You will polish my shoes. You will look after Madam Octa. In short, you will see to my every need. In return, I will teach you the ways of the vampires."

"Do you have to become a vampire?" Darren asked.

"Eventually," he said. "At first you will only have some vampire powers. I will make you a half-vampire. That means you will be able to move during the day. You will have certain powers but not all. And you will only age at a fifth the regular rate, instead of the full vampire's tenth."

"What does that mean?" I snapped.

"Vampires don't live forever," he explained, "but we do live far longer than humans. We age about one-tenth the regular rate. Which means, for every ten years that pass, we age one. As a half vampire, you will age one year for every five."

"You mean, for every five years that pass, I'll only be one year older?" Darren asked.

"That is right." Mr. Crepsley said.

"You're crazy," Darren muttered. "I don't know, but know, I think I'll be…a half vamp…vamp…vampire."

"Today is not a bad night, I found myself two apprentices," Mr. Crepsley said, as if ruining our lives is just seeing if it's rainy or sunny. Still, Steve's life is in my hands, and I'm not going to let him die.

"Ok," Darren sighed, "I don't like it but I don't like sitting in jail and have them all blame me for his death even if it's my fault. I just want you to know if I ever get the chance to betray you I will. If the opportunity arises to pay you back, I'll take it. You'll never be able to trust me."

"Fair enough," Mr. Crepsley said.

"I mean it," Darren snapped.

"I know you do" Mr. Crepsley said. "That is why I want you. A vampire's assistant must have spirit. Your fighting quality is exactly what drew me to you. You will be a dangerous lad to have around, I am sure, but in a fight, when the chips are down, I am just as sure you will be a worthy ally..."

"What about me?" I asked him. I won't be made into a vampire just because I found out that he's a vampire. "Why don't you just kill me then if a girl's not worthy of becoming a vampire?"

"You, my dear, have the minds and wits of a vampire. You know what you want exactly, and you're wisdom is knowledgeable. You have seen a lot." Mr. Crepsley said.

"Too right, and some I don't want to see, like Darren singing in the boy's locker room," I muttered.

"And, you are strong enough to push Darren back when he gets…air headed. You don't really have the spirit of a vampire, you prefer to stand back when you should rise, but your fighting quality is good, and you'll never stop to have revenge. That's what draws you to me. I would have killed you right away if you weren't." Mr. Crepsley continued.

"Ok, then how do we do it?" Darren asked. Mr. Crepsley stood and walks forward. The stink of blood stank even more when he stood closer, and I felt that it was coming from him. He raised his hand, and pushed his nails into the tips of his fingers until they bled. That is so gross. If possible, I would have ran away, but what if he chases me? Vampires are evil, what if he kills all my relatives and friends, like some evil Chinese tyrant used to do?

"Lift your hands," he told me, and I raised them slowly. It won't hurt more than a splinter, right? He dug his nails into the tips of my fingers, a tensed. It made a splinter seemed like a small touch of your nails! I wanted to scream, but no. I won't give that bloodsucker satisfaction of seeing me scream after ruining my life!

"Does it hurt?" asked Darren nervously. I rolled my eyes, despite I was about to give up everything I've owned; he's as thick headed as a troll. Do trolls exist? I must ask Mr. Crepsley. He put a couple of my fingers in his mouth, and sucked some blood out. When he was done, I wiped my hands on Darren's shirt (hey!), until all the saliva was gone.

"Your blood is weird; I have never tasted blood like that. Tell me, did you ever see purple faced people with red eyes?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

"Ok, I know I'm not exactly smart, but who on earth goes around with purple skin?" I yelled at him, "just get on with it!"

"Never mind then, its good blood," Mr. Crepsley said, and then he pressed his fingers to mine, wound to wound. Then I felt a gushing sensation and realized my blood was moving from my body to his through my left hand, while his blood was entering mine through my right. It felt strange, like being in a whirlpool or a washing machine. We remained joined for a couple more seconds, until he broke free and I collapsed on to the floor. Being blooded was a painful process.

"Give me your fingers, my spit heals wounds." Mr. Crepsley said, and I held them out reluctantly. After he was done, I wiped my hands on Darren's shirt again and saw that I had ten tiny scars running from them. But, thankfully, my nails were long enough to hide them unless you pull my hand up and look for them.

"It's your turn, Darren," Mr. Crepsley told him, and Darren got up reluctantly. They did the same process, and now we were the vampire with his two assistants.

"I don't feel any different," Darren said.

"It will take a few days for the effects to become apparent," Mr. Crepsley said. "There is always a period of adjustment. The shock would be too great otherwise."

"What will I be able to do with my new powers?" Darren asked. "Will I be able to change into a bat?" This time, I slapped my forehead. When will he learn that those myths are not real? If they can turn into bats then Mr. Crepsley would have been able to do that already.

"How can you think about flying at a time like this?" I screamed, slapping him hard. "I had to ruin my life because of you and you're not even sorry!"

"A bat, you do not believe those silly stories, do you? How on Earth could somebody the size of you or I turn into a tiny flying rat? Use your brain, boy. We can no more turn into bats, rats or fog than we can turn into ships, planes or monkeys!" Mr. Crepsley shrieked at the same moment.

"Now we must hurry to tend your friend. If he does not get the antidote before tomorrow morning, the serum will not work. Besides, we have plenty of time to discuss secret powers," Mr. Crepsley grinned. "You could say we have all the time in the world."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mr. Crepsley led the way up the stairs and out of the building. Once outside, he told me to hop up on his back, and Darren to cling to his front.

"Keep your arms wrapped around my neck," he said. When we were all ready, he started running. The buildings were zipping by, and it seemed as if the world was moving faster and we were slipping past it. We reached the hospital in a couple of minutes.

"How did you do that?" Darren asked.

"Speed is relative," Mr. Crepsley said, pulling into the shadows.

"Which room is your friend in?" he asked.

"Darren told him Steve's room number. He looked up, and then told us to hop back on, and then he started to climb up the wall like spider man does! The window was locked, but he clicked his fingers and the latch sprang open. We got off, and I rushed to Steve. He looked even grayer, and there were new tubes all over his body. Mr. Crepsley bent over and looked over Steve. Finally, he said that we were in time. He uncorked a small glass vial.

"I must be careful," he said, "this antidote is almost as lethal as the poison. A couple of drops too many and…" he didn't need to finish us knew what he meant. He then tiled Steve's head and told Darren to hold it that way. He leaned one of his nails against the flesh of Steve's neck and made a small cut. Blood oozed out. He stuck his finger over it, then poured the serum into his mouth and blew the serum into the cut. When he was finished, he spat the last of the fluid onto the floor.

"I am always afraid of swallowing that stuff by accident, "he told us. "One of these nights, I am going to take a course and learn how to do this the easy way." Just then, Steve moved. His neck flexed then his head, then his shoulders. His arms twitched and his legs started to jerk. His face crease up and he began to moan.

"What's happening?" I snapped.

"It is all right," Mr. Crepsley said, "He was on the brink of death. The journey back is never a pleasant one. He will be in pain for some time, but he will live."

"Will there be any side affects?" Darren asked. "He won't be paralyzed from waist down or anything?"

"Now," Mr. Crepsley said. "He will be fine. He will feel a bit stiff and will catch colds very easily, but otherwise he will be the same as he was before."

Steve's eyes shot open suddenly, and focused on Darren and Mr. Crepsley. I didn't know how he looked, for I was on his other side.

"Steve?" Darren asked, "Steve?"

"That is going to happen a lot," Mr. Crepsley said. "He will be slipping in and out of consciousness all night. By morning he should be awake and by afternoon he will be sitting up and asking for dinner.

"Come, let us go," Mr. Crepsley said.

"I want to stick around a while longer to make sure he recovers," Darren replied.

"You mean you want to make sure I have not tricked you," Mr. Crepsley laughed. "We will come back tomorrow and you will see that he is fine. We really must go now. If we stay any" All of a sudden, the door opened and a nurse walked in!

"What's going on here" she shouted, stunned to see us. "Who the hell are" Mr. Crepsley grabbed Steve's bed covers and threw them over the nurse. She fell down as she tried to remove the sheets. Darren froze, staring at everything.

"Quick, you dimwit!" I hissed at him. "I don't want to leave Steve either, do you think I enjoy this, looking at him between life and death?"

"I see, he is going to go back on our deal." Mr. Crepsley said. Darren hesitated, and then ran out the door.

"Very well. Run, Darren Shan! It will do you no good. You are a creature of the night now. You are one of us! You will be back you will come crawling on your knees, begging for help. Run, fool, run!" Mr. Crepsley yelled, and then began to laugh until Darren disappeared from sight.

"Now what?" I asked him. I had no intentions of staying here for the night.

"I'll bring you home; you can try to talk some sense into Darren." He told me.

"What if I don't succeed? I've been made a vampire against my will!" I asked him. Darren was known for being stubborn.

"Then just hope that he doesn't kill any of your friends, I'll be back," he said. "Hop on."

"Just a sec," I told him, and leaned over Steve.

"Get well quick," I said softly, and then hopped onto Mr. Crepsley's back.

"Try not to stay in a room with only who human, and don't ever look at blood," he warned me when we were at my house, "or you will overcome with the urge to drink from them."

"I won't," I said dryly, "I'm an innocent bystander who got turned into a demon against my will because I played hero."

"Very well, you'll se me soon." He said, then suddenly disappeared, even though I knew that he was just sprinting away very fast back to the empty mansion.


	7. Chapter 6

The story is not yet finished!! It will continue, so please be patient and wait for it !

Disclaimer: I do not own Darren Shan, any of the original characters, or the original story plot!

* * *

School is boring now, but I knew I should enjoy it. It was boring, but fun.

I knew that it would be the last few days of normal, regular school life I'd ever have. I enjoyed every bit of it, from Lexi talking about shoes or the gooey macaroni and cheese for lunch. I noticed that everything seemed sharper now, I could hear a lot better and I was getting fitter. I improved six seconds in P.E class, and since I began with sixteen seconds for a hundred meters, now I could run a hundred meters in only ten seconds. There were no visible muscles, I was as chubby as I started with, but I could run thirteen laps before tiring and when I took off my glasses, I could almost see like a normal person.

"Wow, Ev, did you go to the gym or something, you improved so much!" Lexi exclaimed in the lockers after P.E that Tuesday.

"No, I just got granted a wish," I told her.

"Hey, did you hear that Steve got better? I heard that he's going to school this Friday!" She carried on, pulling her flip flops on.

"I know that he got better, I heard the news on Monday already. But he's coming out, that's news," I told her.

"Oh, this is so romantic!" Lexi sighed, "Separated by a mysterious poison that almost kills him, but then he gets better because the goddess of luck smiles upon him and now you're reunited!" I pushed her.

"Hey, stop that, it's annoying!" I joked, and she laughed. "Come one, Amber and Fiona will be really pissed off if…" I trailed off. The locker room was empty, other than me…and Lexi.

"Don't be alone with another human…" Mr. Crepsley's voice came back to me.

"Oh, I…um…I need to, go. Yes, I need to go now," I told her hurriedly, and ran out of the locker room.

"Why, wait for me! Eva, wait!" Lexi called, but I kept on running until I was at my locker, where Amber and Fiona where.

"Took you long enough," Amber said.

"You know, Darren was here!" Fiona squealed. I raised an eyebrow.

"His locker is right here, of course he came here," I told her.

"Well, yes, but he asked where you were, twice!" Fiona continued, "he looked almost scared, what did you do?"

"Nothing, maybe he thinks Lexi's with me," I fibbed, and threw some books into my bag.

"Ah, well, she thought you had some relationships with Darren," Amber smirked, tossing her hair behind her shoulders.

I rolled my eyes again. Other changes that occurred to me were that I found it hard getting to sleep, and I kept waking in the middle of the night. I could hear people talking in the next two rooms, as if there were no walls between. I got stronger, and I was able to do push-ups and pull-ups now, as many as I liked. When I was eating, I tried to see if I was strong enough to make tooth marks into my frozen cube of butter. I didn't only chew the butter in half; I chewed the fork it was on in half too. I was careful not to show any of my powers to anyone. If I did, then I would be in trouble, big time trouble.

Darren wasn't so fortunate. He played soccer, and with his new powers he played like Pele and ran like the wind. When Tommy passed him a ball once he caught it then accidentally squeezed it so hard it popped. I tried to explain that he shouldn't do that, but he wouldn't listen. That arrogant little maggot wouldn't listen to all the tips I was giving him, and I knew that when Steve came back he'll be in more trouble. Steve knew more about vampires than a lot of people do, and I bet that he would know Darren is very fishy. I knew that Darren would be trouble, but I never knew that he was that stubborn.

The trouble all happened on Friday, when Steve came to school. He was surrounded by lots of people who wanted to know what happened to him and ho he got better, so I didn't get the chance to talk to him. It was break, and I was stuffing my geology books into my locker, while Lexi and Amber were chatting about who they think designed Sakura's dress, and Fiona was messing with my locker decorations. I glanced out the window beside absentmindedly and crashed to the floor.

"Eva!" Amber shrieked, pulling me up. "What happened?"

"No, it's just…" I said, pointing a shaking finger at the scene outside. My darkest dreams came true, Alan Morris had hurt his knee in the game and now he's bleeding, and Darren…was drinking the blood from Alan's wound.

"Eew, that is so disgusting!" Lexi screamed, clutching me.

"I know, it's real perverted," I agreed. It was perverted how he betrayed us! No, I have to find Mr. Crepsley tonight. It cannot wait.

Mr. Crepsley was talking with Darren when I got there.

"You lasted longer in the human's world than I thought," he was saying.

"I sucked blood from one of my best friends," Darren was telling him, "And I almost bit my younger sister."

"He was a fool," I hissed, startling him. Another power I had achieved was the power of moving lightly. "He avoided me the whole week when I tried to warn him of things, and now he's gotten himself in trouble!"

"Is that true, you avoided her?" Mr. Crepsley asked slowly.

"Yes, I was afraid that if I believed her then I'd never be a human again and everything would be true. There's no way back, is there? Darren asked sadly. "No magic potion to make me human again or keep me from attacking people?"

"There _are_ no ways of turning back, I asked _him_ already. If there was, I would be a human and living my perfect life and NOT running around at night as a demon!"

"The only thing that can stop you now," Mr. Crepsley said, "is the good old stake through the heart."

"Very well," Darren sighed, "I don't like it, but I guess I've no other choice. I'm yours. I won't run away again. Do with me as you wish as you did with her."

"Do you think _I_ enjoy being a half vampire? Do you think I actually like this life? I would need to throw away my family, my friends, my pets, and everything and everyone I loved and cared about because of you. And I even had to almost give myself away for you!"

"You, what did you do other than giggle with Alexandra?" he asked me.

"Who tried hard to stop your friends from bleeding? Who told your sister not to be in the same room as you? Who made all those lies to the teachers and other students about your amazing progress and stuff? Who stopped people from finding out about you sooner?" I snarled, "I gave up my week to help you, but you threw all my efforts away!'

"Is this why you chose her to be your apprentice? Because she's so determined and freaky?" Darren asked Mr. Crepsley.

"Oh, I won't say that she's freaky, but she is determined to prove herself," Mr. Crepsley said lightly. "We should go now; we have much to do before you can assume your rightful place as my assistants."

"Like what?" Darren asked, confused.

"First of all," Mr. Crepsley said with a sly smile, "we have to kill you guys!"

"Kill us, you're crazy!" Darren shrieked.

"You're not going to stick a stake into _me_!" I screamed, "I'm not going to make you kill me now, and make me into some zombie!"

"Zombies aren't real," Mr. Crepsley said, "if you don't fake your death, people will look for you and you'd never have any peace." I fell silent, pondering about what he was saying.

"Oh, that means we can't see our family again? Nor our friends?" Darren said softly.

"No, but you'll make a lot more friends that you can stay with after you're my assistant," Mr. Crepsley said, and laughed.

We spent our last weekend saying goodbye. I visited all my favorite spots, drew a lot of pictures, and treasured every few moments I had with my family.

I wished that they could be around me more, but then they were going out more and more often these days, I basically live alone, so I spent a lot more time with Lexi, Amber and Fiona. My friends think that I'm being weird, but thanks to Lexi, she told them that it was just a side effect of having a crush. There was nothing wrong that weekend, Lexi's teases about Steve didn't hurt, Amber's lectures about Butler's profile didn't annoy me, and Fiona's squeals hadn't embarrassed me.

Some times I felt like crying. I didn't want to leave all of them behind, especially not Steve, but I knew I had to. I can't risk drinking from them, or even killing them. I always press my nails into my palm, but sometimes even that didn't work so I had to drop some water from an eye dropper and pretend that the eye drops stung like mad. My parents didn't notice anything wrong, they were too busy with my sister in finding a school that would accept her, and I didn't want to bother them. They had enough to do without me crying all over them. I would miss all that when I'm gone. My rabbit didn't understand me.

I would laugh like a maniac, then suddenly break down in tears and then sing a song, and stop, then suddenly start dancing. That Sunday, I decided to have a party, my one last party. I invited all my friends. We had great food that my mom actually found the time to cook before leaving: chicken, mashed potatoes, pasta, linguini, pizza, and corn-on-the-cob, pop corn, candy, punch, jelly, ice cream, chocolate cakes, and mango smoothies. We all had a lot of fun. We all played charades, monopoly, and we had a pretend band where I took out my dad's electric guitar and we just pretended to play, then I put some music on the boom box and we all danced, and lastly we watched Resident Evil again.

Then, I had a surprise: my parents and sister actually came home when the party was ending, and watched the last part of the movie with us! It was what I wanted, my friends and my family all together. I then went to my room and opened all the gifts my friends gave me. Lexi gave me this portable make-up set, which was really useful, Amber gave me a portable art kit which I liked very much and the comic version of Artemis Fowl. Fiona gave me this awesome new silver dagger, as I told them that I lost my old one. My parents gave me this silver acorn that I have no idea what it's for, but it looked pretty. They said that it is bulletproof, but I have no idea why I would need a bullet proof acorn for.

Never less, I Liked it. I also had a surprise presents, my parents and friends actually combined money and gave me this chocker that was a silver band of metal with a black jewel in the middle, and if you hold it to the moonlight, I saw that a message was etched into it: To E.C from all of us: if you ever miss us just look up at the moon, for we'll be looking at it too. I squealed with delight, and fastened it on. Then, I started to feel tear drops falling. I walked down to my parents' room where they were asleep, and hugged them one last time.

"Goodnight mom, goodnight dad," I whispered, "I love you," and walked away. I took out my shiny black converse bag that my parents had gave me for Christmas. I put in it some clothes, all my presents, an album of my family, a pair of shoes, some books and other stuff. Then, I pushed the clothes I would change into when I was out of my grave and zipped the bag. I was ready.

"I see that you're ready," Mr. Crepsley said from down the window.

"Yeah, but keep it low. I don't exactly want to wake my parents up," I hissed, and pushed my bag at him. "Guard it with your life, it's all my stuff, and don't look in it I have everything arrange alphabetically!"

"I won't, Darren made me promise the same thing," Mr. Crepsley shrugged, and jumped through the window. "You said that you have a plan of your own."

"I do," I snapped, "You see, people would wonder how I died if I just fall out, and it'll be suspicious if I die the same way Darren died. So, I'm going to go up to the roof, you will too, and I'll scream that I won't give it to you, then like I'll just drink that antidote thing, then you will like say I'll get it when you're dead then, and crack my neck like you're supposed to, grab this chain, and push me off then run from the scene so people will think that I was trying to not give you that necklace and you killed me to get it," I told him.

"A smart plan," he agreed, then noticed the piece of paper I had on my desk. "What's that?"

"Oh, just my will," I said a little casually. Mr. Crepsley gave me a weird look, and leaped out the window on to the roof. I followed suit, and did the little drama, then drank the foul-smelling liquid. I couldn't move any more, and I could only take a little air at a time.

"I'm going to snap your neck now," Mr. Crepsley said, and I heard this clicking sound. I didn't feel anything, my senses were dead. "There." He carried me, and then he dropped me off the roof, grabbing the chain and running away. My house blurred, and then I landed on my back, eyes open and staring at the stars. My glasses were beside me, broken to pieces by the fall.

"Norman, what's happening?" my neighbor shouted to her husband.

"I don't know, I heard someone screaming for help. I'm going to investigate," Norman said, and walked out his front door. 'Don't step on me' I wished, but I stepped right on to my foot.

"What the…Oh my god…" Norman shouted, and ran to ring my doorbell a lot of times.

"Do you know what time of the day it is?" my father asked him angrily, "Other people sleep, you know.

"No, it's just…your daughter…the roof…fell…" Norman stammered, but it was enough to let my parents know what happened, and they ran out to see me.

"Evangeline!" My mom shrieked, shaking me. "What happened? Wake up, wake up!" she slapped me on each cheek, but I just fell limply to one side.

"Evangeline," my dad yelled, and turned to Norman. "What happened?"

"I heard a girl's voice saying that she won't give something to someone, then a man's voice saying oh well I'll just get it when you're dead, then he laughed, and I heard the girl scream and so I came out to investigate and saw her just lying there," Norman said, "I'm going to call an ambulance!

"She's not moving, she's not moving! She's dead, she's dead!" my mom screamed.

"No she's not, I own't believe it unless the doctors say so!" My dad yelled at her, and he took her inside.

"What happened?" other neighbors started shouting, and they came to see my lifeless body. Some screamed, and others gaped. I wanted to sit up and yell at them, but I couldn't move.

"A person knelt and felt for a pulse, a breath, any sign of life, but there was none.

"She's dead…" he muttered, and closed the lids of my eyes. I wanted to shout 'don't do that, I won't be able to see!' but I stayed where I was.

The ambulance arrived very soon, and it took them less time to declare that I was dead. I wanted someone to open my eyes, but since I'm pronounced dead, none of them bothered to.

They wanted to cut my open, but then my mom found my 'will' on my desk, and, call me miss Einstein, I wrote that if I was found dead, I want to be laid to rest right away without being cut open and so they didn't as my final wish. My family was here everyday, crying over my body. My sister poked at me, and screamed at me, swearing a lot when I didn't wake, but finally she just fell to her knees and sobbed.

The undertaker (at least I thought he was the undertaker) arrived and undressed me. She poked me a lot, and I wanted to snap at her 'stop touching my body you pervert' but I guess the dead doesn't care about other people looking at their privates.

"She's in a good condition, she just looks asleep. Some white would do well, and give her some lipstick and red toned make up. And wash her hair, its oily enough to support McDonald's."

She rolled my eyelids, and I saw that she was a strict looking woman with a hooked nose and light brown hair in a bun. They took me back home that night, and laid me in the living room so people could come and say goodbye. It felt weird, people talking about me. They were saying how I was a smart girl, and I would have grown up to be the first woman president, and invent the tivo, etcetera.

The worst part when my friends came to mourn. Lexi fell to pieces, and was clinging on the curtains so hard they had to pry her away and carry her all the way back to her house, and the Fiona were basically just sobbing for ever. My friends from the U.S.A coming to visit held my gloved hand, and just cried over me for a long time until other people said that they should leave me with my family then they left.

My senses started to come back, and I felt dry and itchy all over. I could feel my mouth being as dry as the Sahara because the undertaker had putted this red powder in my mouth that keeps it cool and dry so I'll be 'preserved' and I wanted to swallow it down but couldn't. The paper had a strange bitter taste for some reason. I've also slightly feel someone taking off my gloves. The undertaker had put so much power over my body I bet it covered everything including the scars from the blooding; I wouldn't be surprised if I looked like a zombie. The person who stuck the piece of paper into my mouth then took it out and cried over me after. I was sure it was the same person who checked my hands, but I cannot tell who it was.

The next morning, my family came and cried over me again. It was good that they didn't say much, because if they did I would have cried with them. Later that day, a coffin was bought in. Someone accidentally bumped into me and my eyes fell open and I saw that my coffin was black with carvings of birds and roses with thorns on it. Good, they had followed my will. But out of the corner of my eye I could see that they had dressed me in a white dress with white elbow length gloves, and they made my skin so white that I looked like a ghost.

"Hey, put her eye lids down!" Someone said, and I saw no more because some one did.

A priest came and said a really long and boring speech, and then they placed me in the coffin and buried me. I felt a bump when the coffin hit the bottom, and I heard them shoveling the earth back into the grave, and then complete silence. I could move now, slowly, and I felt the coffin. Someone hadn't made a good mob of the coffin, behind all the silk linings; the wood was scratch and I got blisters when I tried to move. My back ached, and my lungs and heart hurt. My legs were cramped, and my neck was stiff. I was bored very soon.

In the clothes I was wearing when I fell, I had placed my I-Pod in a protective case inside my pocket so I could listen to it when I'm buried, but then they must have took it out when they changed me. I sang silently, thinking about all the singers. The band My Chemical Romance loved to sing songs about death. If I told them that I had been buried then came out again would they make me one of their members? How cool would that be? But I bet I can't, I'm a half vampire now. Where on earth is Mr. Crepsley?

Finally, I heard someone digging above me. I quickly moved to the position they buried me in, if it wasn't Mr. Crepsley then I'd be dead, the person knocked three times and unscrewed it. Then, I heard a faint scream somewhere, and then Mr. Crepsley called out for Darren and went away. What the heck, I'm going to run out of air soon! I kicked open the coffin lid with my strength, it was unscrewed, but then earth fell on top of me. Mr. Crepsley must have filled me back in! I heard voices talking to Darren coming my way. From a tiny part of moonlight, I looked at my reflection from the necklace I wore around my neck.

I looked like a zombie, and because of the red powder in my mouth, my cheeks looked sunken and dried up. I gathered some spit and spat the powder out. Shoot, it landed on my dress. I wiped off the lipstick using my dress, and started digging. I'm running out of air fast, and if I don't get any soon, I'm going to die. So I kept shoveling dirt, until I hit something hard: the crust. I used a fist and punched throw it, then climbed throw the hole I made.

"A zombie!" someone screamed, and Darren screamed too. The voice sounded way too familiar. I tried to say a word, but my mouth wasn't working well.

"Eervv." I managed to say, but that only made them scream even more. I was about to trip, and held my hands in front of me. My elbow joints weren't working, so I couldn't brush the hair out of my eyes, I held my arms in front of me to stop me from bumping into trees and walked stiffly towards their voices.

"I'll be back, Darren Shan!" The person shrieked, and ran away.

"Mr. Crepsley! There's a zombie!" Darren screamed. I stopped and spat, my joints were back again and I think I can talk.

"Run?" I tried again. "Darren'?" and I brushed the hair out of my eyes.

"Evan, you scared me!" Darren yelled.

"What's the matter, Darren? Oh, Evangeline, you dug yourself out," Mr. Crepsley said.

"Yeah, or I'd run out of air," I told him flatly, "then this person started screaming about zombies.

"Mind you, you look like one," Darren told me.

"Was that Steve you were talking to?" I asked him.

"What, no," Darren said quickly, and I knew at once that he was fibbing.

"Someone putted a sheet of paper into my mouth and took off my glove when I was in the coffin, no, not buried yet, and then they cried over me. It was weird," I told them.

"Ok, that is weird," Darren said, but he tensed. I think he knows something but he's not telling us.

"I'm going to change," I said to them, grabbing my bag and going into the trees. I pulled on a My Chemical Romance T-shirt, jeans, my sneakers, and some fingerless gloves. I putted on the silver snake ring and combed my hair out of its curls. I took my dagger out and tried to press it against my heart. Better to be dead than to be a vampire, right? But I couldn't do it, I couldn't kill myself, no, I just can't. It's the same feeling I got when I tried to harm Darren.

"You will grow used to leaving after a time," Mr. Crepsley said, "Vampires are always saying goodbye. We never stop anywhere very long. We are forever picking up our roots and moving on to pastures new. It is our way."

"Is the first time the hardest?" Darren asked.

"Yes," Mr. Crepsley said, "But it never get easy."

"How long before we get used to it?" Darren wanted to know.

"Maybe a few decades, maybe even more," Mr. Crepsley said.

"Can we never make friends? Can we never have homes or wives or families?" Darren asked.

"You actually want to have a family with kids and a wife?" I asked him with disgust.

"Yes, don't you?" Darren asked, frowning.

"Never," I replied in a hard voice.

"I'm hungry," Darren said, and I realized that I was ravenous too.

"Me too," Mr. Crepsley said, "Let us go eat." We took a deep breath, and walked away into the night, away from the cemetery, away from the graveyards, away from our family, away from our past…into the night.


	8. Chapter 7

Hey guys. Thanks for the ten reviews!! I really appreciate those of you who are really taking the time to read what I've written, and for spending even more time on writing a review! Bat broth and chocolate chip cookies to all of you, oh and a special thanks to fall-in-love-again for he/she gave me three reviews! Uh…I'll give him/her Gannen, to do all your chores! (You'll see why I don't like him so much, or rather, why Evan hates him, well, sort of)

* * *

"So, where are we going to eat? I mean, I know that we're not going to stop by a McDonalds or something, but where are we going?" I asked dryly. "I'm starving here, I haven't ate since Sunday."

"Oh, we just need to find the right person to feed from," Mr. Crepsley said in a light voice.

"Whoa, wait a second, what do you mean feed from? Are we going to drink his blood?" Darren asked nervously.

"Didn't you do that already? When you drank from a certain person named Alan Morris?" I asked him slyly.

"That was an accident!" Darren said hotly, "I didn't mean to do it!"

"Ah, wait here!" Mr. Crepsley said in a whisper, and jumped on to a tree. A few moments later, a man wearing a scout's uniform appeared.

"Why, hello there, are you two lost?" he asked. Darren shook his head numbly while I stared at him. How can a man that old still wear a scout's costume? Then, Mr. Crepsley leaped from the tree breathed some kind of gas into the man's mouth and the man collapsed.

"A man that old shouldn't be wearing a scout's uniform," Mr. Crepsley said in disgust.

"Don't ask stupid questions," I warned Darren.

"Were you ever in boy scouts?" he asked Mr. Crepsley, ignoring me. Talk about asking stupid questions!

"No, they weren't there in my days. Now come and feed," Mr. Crepsley said, using his nail to make a wound in that man's arm.

"No, I'm not going to drink his blood!" Darren protested.

"Why not?" I demanded, "Didn't you drink from Alan?"

"I told you it was an accident!" Darren snapped. "I'm not drinking from him, and that's final."

"Suit yourself, but you better drink it later," Mr. Crepsley said, and bent down to drink the man's blood.

"Do we suck it by biting his neck?" I asked him. I don't think I have fangs yet, but my fingernails were as sharp as blades.

"No," Mr. Crepsley said, lips dripping with blood, "you make a cut with your nails then suck it out."

"That looks simple," I said, and made a cut on his wrist then put my mouth to it. Blood gushed through, and I chocked, splattering blood on the grass.

"Ah, you must have tried to suck the whole thing in. Don't just take a little at a time, or you'll kill him," Mr. Crepsley said, and so I tried again, sucking in a little by a time the way you drink smoothies. After a few mouthfuls, it started to taste good, and then it started to taste like tomato juice, which was good and so I just kept sucking it up until Mr. Crepsley pulled me away.

"Did I take too much?" I asked him.

"Yes, you did. You should have only taken enough to fill your stomach, and you should stop when you started to think it tastes like tomatoes," Mr. Crepsley said.

"Oh, I like tomato juice so I think that's why I didn't stop," I said sarcastically.

"Bloodsucker," Darren muttered under his breath, and I glared at him.

"Where are we staying?" he asked Mr. Crepsley. This time, we got on to Mr. Crepsley's back and he ran until we reached this old temple where he slept in an empty coffin and Darren made himself a bed on the grass. I found a stone table and laid on it, pulling a small pillow and a blanket out of my bag.

"What did you bring?" Darren asked, staring at the bag.

"Oh, just necessary things," I told him, and lay down on the pillow. To think that he was laughing when he said that he got the softest patch of grass! I bet he's going to be covered with bugs when he wakes.

I woke to the smell of cooking beef. I thought it was my mom, cooking some steak for dinner, and then I realized that I was a half vampire and it was the night right now. I glanced at my watch tied to my bag and saw that it was nine o'clock in the night and Darren was cooking at the center of the floor.

"What's that?" I asked him cautiously.

"Breakfast," he said, putting in some spices. "Doesn't it smell good?"

"Yeah, but where'd you get all those stuff?" I asked.

"Mr. Crepsley said that I should do the cooking for some reason." Daren scowled, "while you get to hunt when food is scarce."

"Lucky me. What meat is that?" I asked him.

"Rabbit with some kind of rat, I think," Darren replied. I almost barfed.

"I'm not eating that," I told him, disgusted, "You're gross!"

"Hey, its meat," Darren snapped, "Or you can eat Mr. Crepsley's beetle wing cookies."

"Fine," I said reluctantly, and took a cup of rabbit and rat stew from him. It actually tasted good but I didn't tell him.

The next few weeks were all the same, Darren made all the meals, I washed the clothes and hunted, and Mr. Crepsley guided us when we did something wrong. Soon, Darren was fed up with this life. I was fed up with it too, especially when Darren covers his clothes dirt, I don't want to give up my life for this kind of life. I especially hated hunting, when I had to sink my nails into the necks of rabbits and rats, occasionally throwing a rock at birds, and spearing fish with my nails is not my idea of fun.

So then, after a month since our death, he told Mr. Crepsley that he wanted to live in a hotel. Actually, he begged Mr. Crepsley, and surprisingly, Mr. Crepsley agreed and the next morning we were in a three star hotel and sleeping on soft beds with the shades pulled down. We lived like that for almost a month, with Darren cooking as usual and me taking the clothes to the laundry and shopping for food. There, I found out that I would never have fangs, for Mr. Crepsley made fun of Darren for checking for fangs. It's a pity, for I had thought it'd be cool to have fangs and the ability to glide. Our hotel life ended, surprisingly, with Darren again. One can never expect that everything bad comes from him, right?

It was day, and since Mr. Crepsley was asleep we had nothing to do so I suggested sneaking out and trying to find someone to play with, and we did.

People stared a lot at Darren, who looked like a member of the Adams Family because he was still wearing the suit he was buried in. Thankfully, I had packed clothes with me so I looked normal; I would die if I had to wear that white dress! I was just running on the sidewalk when I came across an empty parking lot, where Darren and some group of boys were playing soccer. I stopped and sat on a bench, watching them. It was going pretty well, but then suddenly this big burly boy was just playing rough, and Darren got very mad.

I knew that Darren was going to get mad and hit someone, although Mr. Crepsley had advised him to lose his temper around humans. He kicked the ball hard, and…crack, his leg connected with the boy's shins. Oh god, Darren's going to make that boy bleed and he'll drink from him! I walked, no, ran over to them, and saw it was worse than what I've imagined: he had broken both of that boy's shin bones and I could see his broken bones and skin, and it looked gross.

"You're a monster, Darren Shan!" one of the boys screamed.

"Darren, what did you do?!" I screamed at him, "I left you alone for an hour and you almost killed someone!"

"He kicked Danny…and…and" one of the boys stammered, and I glared at Darren.

"You're going to be in so much trouble; Mr. Crepsley said that you're not allowed to hurt anyone! He trusted us, and now you didn't…" I ranted on.

"Ok, ok, I messed up! Stop yelling at me!" Darren shrieked, "I just got mad!"

"Well I'm mad too; I had to leave everything behind to be a baby sitter for the murderer!" I screamed, socking him in the stomach. The boys were watching us, but I didn't mind. I was mad, and no one stops me when I'm mad.

"You're going too far, Cho!" Darren barked, and slapped my cheek. Ooh, he's going way too far! I kicked his chin twice, making him bleed in the mouth.

"You're too arrogant for your own good, Darren Shan," I shrieked, huffing and puffing. "I bet your mother wished that Steve was her son instead of you!" As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted it. Darren sank his teeth into my forearm and bit me hard, although he did not drink from me. The boys screamed and scattered, as my blood trickled out. After that, he seemed to get human.

"I'm sorry, Evan," he said, but I ignored him and ran to the hotel, with him following close behind. When I went into our room, Mr. Crepsley was already awake and eating the sandwich Darren had left inside the fridge for him.

"Do you have something to tell me?" Mr. Crepsley asked as we walked through the door, looking at our bloody clothes and the blood dripping from my arm. I pointed at Darren, and Darren told him what happened.

"Ah, that happens a lot if you're not careful when you play with humans," Mr. Crepsley said, "you shouldn't play with them."

"I'm fed up with this life," Darren shouted, while I looked at him in disgust. "I'm tired of having no one to talk to; I want to have some friends!"

"You have her to talk to," Mr. Crepsley said, with his mouthful of sandwich.

"Yeah, but she's a girl. She knows nothing of soccer or racing cars!" Darren protested.

"I not exactly want to talk with trash that ruined my perfectly good life too," I said coldly, "If it weren't for you, neither of us would be here! I'd be having steak for dinner and drinking cold bottles of coke zero!"

Finally, Mr. Crepsley putted his cup down and sighed.

"I know that you're going through a hard stage…"

"But you don't care! As long as I make food for you and guard you during the day, you don't care about me!" Darren shouted.

"Any place would be better than with him!" I screamed back, "I'm not wasting my life washing shirts and shopping for the person who destroyed me!"

"You don't care about friends! You're a grown up and you are always busy, but my friends are just as important as my family!" Darren yelled.

"I want my life back! Why can't you drive a stake through me and be done with it? I'm bored here; all I ever do is wandering around!" I screamed at no one.

"Hmm…" Mr. Crepsley thought while Darren raged on about rats. "I think I can find friends for you two."

"Yes, that would be so great, we'll just go like hi let's be friends, oh by the way I'm a half vampire so don't leave I would want you for dinner too," I said sarcastically.

"Are you always so unoptimistic?" Darren snarled.

"There are no unoptimistic and optimistic with vampires! We are creatures of the night, of hell! Everything we do is wrong!" I shouted.

"Well, so I'm so sorry for ruining your life. You said that over a million times already!" Darren snapped.

"Sorry doesn't bring my life back does it? Sorry didn't bring Steve back to life either, did it? Sorry didn't spare my family their tears, did it?" I snapped back. "And here I am, trying to make my murderer happy, am I crazy? Do I look like I'm insane? I want to be normal, a human, and I want my friends back! I want to copy answers off Mr. Dalton's desk, to steal candy bars from the student store and to tease Lexi about her many crushes! I WANT TO BE HUMAN!"

"Well you're not! You're a bloodsucking god damned vampire!" he shrieked.

"Evangeline, Darren, how would you guys like to travel with the Cirque Du Freak?" Mr. Crepsley said.

"Yeah, and we'll be the amazing three vampires who will try sucking the audience's blood out," I snapped, "Do I even have a choice here?"

"Um…sure," Darren said, smiling. Why is he, the guilty, happy, while I, the innocent, is not? Life is so not fair.

"Ok, get some sleep, we're going tomorrow morning!" Mr. Crepsley announced, and we started to pack our stuff.

"Ha, we're going to the Cirque whether you like it or not," Darren snickered at me.

"Aw, that's so sad," I replied with sarcasm, "I really want to stay in this boring old town without good stores or people to be with."

The Cirque wasn't scary in day light; it was just a lot of tents and vans, and people walking around.

"I thought that vampires can't be in the sun," Darren asked Mr. Crepsley.

"No, we can't," he agreed, "for a very long time. We can stay under the sun for a couple of hours at the most if we need to." We walked into the midst of tents and ran into Mr. Tall man.

"Larten, are you coming back to join us? Oh, and I see that you have two assistants with you," Mr. Tall man boomed.

"Yes, Hibernus, these are my assistants. Guys, this is Hibernus Tall, the owner of Cirque Du Freak but I'm sure you all know him. Hibernus, this is Darren, the one with more spirit, and this is Evangeline, she's more loyal and a lot more aggressive and determined than Darren."

"So, Master Shan, we meet again," Mr. Tall bent down and said to Darren, then turned to me. "Yes, I am Mr. Tall now, not Mr. Tall man," he said softly, then laughed which sounded like trumpets.

"Hibernus, we should find some where for them to stay at," Mr. Crepsley said, "and you have been taking good care for my coffin, right?"

"Oh yes," Mr. Tall said, "and should I knock a pair of coffins for these two?"

"No!" Darren said sharply.

"I would prefer something else if you don't mind," I said. Mr. Tall laughed again.

"She's not only more determined and aggressive, she's a lot more polite!" at that, Darren scowled at me.

"Can you put them with someone their age, if you can?" Mr. Crepsley said.

"How about with him?" Mr. Tall said after a while.

"Fantastic, now follow Mr. Tall," Mr. Crepsley said, and we followed him around and around. At one point he loaded our arms with pillows and blankets, and then we went round and round again until we were at the entrance to one of the tents with Mr. Tall nowhere to be seen.

"Well, go in," I said, pushing him roughly in, then following him.

"Hello, we're your new roommates, Mr. Tall told us to," Darren whispered. There was a shape on a hammock very inside the tent, and I heard a slight hissing noise.

"Darren do you hear that?" I asked him.

"Hear what?" Darren asked, frowning.

"That hissing…oh, it's the snake, how cute!" I said, dropping my stuff and running towards it. It had wrapped itself around Darren's left foot.

"Evan, help me, I don't like snakes!" Darren whispered frantically.

"Don't be silly, it's so cute," I cooed, ignoring Darren's shuddering.

"Evan, stop it!" Darren whined, but I bent down and stroked the snaked. "Hurry up; I don't want it to bite me!"

"Very well," I sighed, and un-winded the snake.

"Who are you, what are you doing here?" a voice said behind me. I spun around and saw the shape standing. "Give me my snake back!"

"Mr. Tall said that we're your new roommates," I said, stroking the snake.

"Then it's alright," the figure said in relief, then opened the tent flap. Sunlight streamed in and I saw that our new roommate was the snake boy. My heart gave a leap. Now I'm able to ask him about snakes!

"Can you get your snake off me?" Darren shrieked, paling. Turning around, I saw that the snake had wrapped itself around Darren again. I bent down and un-winded the snake.

"Don't mind him, he's scared of snakes and legless things," I said, rolling my eyes. "As if snakes are scary, your snake is just so cool!"

"Aren't you afraid that it'll bite you?" the snake boy asked with a weird look.

"Every poison has an antidote," I told him, "even really rare poisons do, like Madam Octa…"

"You guys know Madam Octa?" the snake boy asked again. "Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you guys my name. I'm Evra Von."

"Eva?" I asked, "isn't that a girl's name?"

"No, it's Evra. E-v-r-a-." Evra said patiently.

"Then its Evra Von what?" Darren asked.

"Just Von," Evra said, shrugging. "Who are you guys, anyways? Are you guys some mind readers or maybe fortune tellers, oh I know, are you guys zombies?" Evra asked.

"No, we're not zombies. They don't exist," I told him.

"Oh, then what's your names?" Evra asked, confused.

"I'm Darren, Darren Shan, and she's Evangeline Cho also known as the nerdy emo girl," Darren smirked, shaking Evra's hand. Wait, the nerdy emo girl? That is so not me!

"I'm so not the nerdy emo girl," I said with a grimace. "I'm totally not emo!"

"She's so-oo determined and aggressive, and oh my god she's so-oo loyal," Darren sniggered, and they burst out laughing.

"Fine, I'm the nerdy emo girl. At least I'm not the geeky soccer fan who likes to brag a lot and gets a lot of girlfriends," I added slyly.

"You have a lot of girlfriends?!" Evra asked Darren, his eyes wide.

"No!" Darren shouted, "She's lying! Take it back!"

"Then take back the nerdy emo girl insult," I said, pretending to check my nails. This assistant thing is getting kind of fun; I get to annoy Darren all the time for centuries.

"Fine, I take it back," Darren said sourly.

"Hmm…I'm thinking about whether I should take it back. It is half true, isn't it?" I said, pretending to think.

"You promised!" Darren yelled, and tried to punch me, but I knew him too well. As an observant person, I know that if you tease him he'll get annoyed, then mad, then he swings his fist at you; so I jumped on to a tower of crates then on to a tree.

"Hey Evra, want to hear Darren sing?" I called down.

"What do you mean?" Darren laughed, "I'm so not singing!"

"Sure," Evra said, laughing. Where on earth did I put it? I sat on a branch and shifted through my bag. Ah, there it is, and it still has batteries!

"Here you go, don't fall off your feet!" I shouted, and activated the record player. After a few whirls, Darren's voice came out five times louder than normally.

"_Steve, did you ever hear the song keep holding on by Avril Lavigne? I just got it, and it sounds cool," _then Steve's voice came on.

"_Yeah, it rocks. Actually, I never heard that song before,"_

"_Wait, I'll sing a few verses-"_There, I stopped the tape.

"Don't you dare play it!" Darren shrieked, going red.

"Come on, play it," Evra egged on, and I played it on. Darren's voice came out again, this time in a high pitched voice.

"_You're not alone, together we stand, I'll be by your side you know I'll take your hand. When it gets cold and it feels like the end, there's no place to go and you know I won't give in. No I won't give in. Keep, holding on, cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through. Just stay strong, cause you know I'm here for you I'm here for you…"_ I stopped the tape and placed it back into my bag, hardly able to stay on the tree.

Darren had sung all the notes off key, and his voice was so high pitched it sounded like he was trying to sing opera. Evra was laughing, and Darren was rolling on the ground.

"You used your computer to make it sound so horrible, didn't you?" Darren managed out. I shook my head, I Had done nothing to it.

"NO, it's the original song sung by Darren Shan," I said, and they laughed again. I slid down the tree, and ran to them.

"How did you get that record?" Evra asked, "I thought that girls weren't allowed in the boy's locker rooms."

"They're not," I admitted, "I heard Darren and Steve singing from the walls outside the locker rooms, and I thought it'd be funny to record it."

"You sneak!" Darren shouted, but I knew that he didn't mean it. "You didn't tell me that we can bring electronic stuff!"

"You never asked," I told him, "I didn't either but no one said anything."

"Ah, here are the young half vampires," Mr. Tall suddenly said, appearing behind us.

"Half vampires? You guys are vampires?" Evra asked us, eyes popping out.

"Yeah," Darren said, shrugging.

"So, does either of you know how to cook?" Mr. Tall asked.

"Darren cooks," I volunteered, "he cooked everything when we were traveling.

"Can you cook for a hundred people?" Mr. Tall asked him. Darren shook his head numbly and I did too. I couldn't bake cookies without setting the oven on fire!

"Can you guys mend clothes? Sew costumes? Have talents that you can be on the show? The ability to carve wood, to make stuff wash clothes for a hundred people?" Mr. Tall carried on.

"I can wash clothes with a washing machine, but only a few by hand," I mumbled. "And I really do prefer using washing machines but I don't think there are any here." Mr. Tall gave a booming laugh.

"No, we don't have washing machines. How about you guys just split chores with Evra, if it's ok with him?" Mr. Tall asked.

"Sure," we three said.

"I bet we'll have a lot of fun with Evra," I said confidently.

"You bet," Darren whispered, and we all laughed.

"Mr. Tall smiled, and then strode away.

"So, what are the chores?" I asked Evra. "Not washing plates is it, because I hate washing."

"No, I'll tell you guys later. First, we get some food."

Evra led us to some people surrounding a fire. I made out Alexander Ribs, Gertha Teeth and Truska. Truska was cooking some sausages, and after we introduced ourselves she offered us some.

"She's asking if you guys are vegetarians," Evra said, and we all laughed.

"Who ever heard of a vegetarian vampire?" Alexander laughed.

"So these are Larten's new assistants?" a voice asked, and we looked up into the face of an unfamiliar man with bushy blonde hair.

"Yeah, I'm Evangeline Cho and he's Darren Shan also known as the person who ruined my life." I told him. Darren stuck his tongue out at me.

"Ok, I'm Cormac Limbs, and I'm one of the performers." The man said.

"What do you do?" Darren asked.

"Oh, grab hold of my finger," Cormac said, and Darren did, then all of a sudden Cormac snapped his finger off!

"Ah! I broke his finger!" Darren screamed, still holding the broken finger, but the rest of the people laughed. This must be some kind of special act; I've never seen anything like that before!

"Look here," Cormac said, and showed us his hand. The stub got white, and before our eyes he grew another finger, identical to the one that broke off!

"I can break off any limbs and they'll just re-grow with little pain, I've never tried my head yet, that's all," Cormac told us.

"Wow, that's so cool," I breathed.

"Here you go," Evra said, handing us some sausages. We sat on some logs and ate them quickly, and went to do our chores. First, we milked Evra's snake. Actually, Evra milked it, but he taught me how and said that if I learn fast enough, I might be able to milk it too under his supervision. Then we used soft sponges to give it a 'bath' Darren stayed back at first, but then he joined in reluctantly. Evra was a snake expert too; he knew all kinds of snakes, and he even knew roughly how many scales his snake has! Washing the snake, I felt that Evra feels kind of like his snake for some reason. Maybe it's because he has scales? After that, we went to feed the wolf man.

"We're not actually going in, are we?" Darren asked, going pale.

"What, scared?" I sneered.

"No, we're just going to throw food in. He's not just a real hairy guy, he's actually part human and part wolf. The wolf blood in him makes him…inhuman. If we let him out then he'll eat everyone in his path." Evra said, handing us some raw meant.

"What happened to him?" Darren asked curiously. I was curious too, how did a human turn so wild?

"Do you guys really want to know?" Evra asked seriously. We thought about it, and decided not to ask. We stood outside the cage, and the wolf man shook the bars.

"Don't get too close, he'll eat you," Evra warned us and we stood by him and threw the meat through the bars.

"How did you guys come here?" Darren asked.

"Sometimes people watch the shows and decide that they want to join, some times Mr. Tall brings them to here, and sometimes they're relatives of people in the show," Evra said, throwing a piece of steak into the cage. Yum, I love steak. But after seeing the wolf man rips the bloody steak in pieces, I lost my appetite.

"How did you get here then? Oh, are you a relative of one of the actors?" I asked him. Evra's face got dark and I knew I asked the wrong question. "Oh, I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to be rude,"

"It's ok, you can know," Evra sighed. "When I was born, my parents got freaked out, and sent me to the orphanage. A circus master saw me and took me away, and he always whipped me, dressed me in rags and gave me little food. Then one day, Mr. Tall came and asked him about me. The ring master gave him a price, and suddenly Mr. Tall just reached out and twisted his neck then went to free me. He said:' come, Evra,' and I just took his hand and he bought me here. I've been here since."

"That ring master deserves more than just a simple twist on the neck," I declared, "he must be one of those perverted cruel circus masters that are very wrong in the mind."

"You have a queer way of talking," Evra said.

"Yeah, I know, but still. At least people know what I want to say." I said. "Can you talk to snakes? I've always wanted to talk to snakes ever since I read the Harry Potter series."

"What is Harry Potter?" Evra asked, "I can't talk to snakes, anyways."

"You can't? I thought you can, but it's really cool how you can slide on your belly, I guess having scales help. You never heard of Harry Potter? I can lend the books to you; I bought the series with me, other than the seventh book because it's not out yet." I told him.

"Really? That would be so cool! Alexander taught me how to read, but I'm still not very good yet. Maybe you can help me with some I don't know?"

"I hate to break up all the love, but don't we need to go on to our next chores?" Darren yawned, leaning against the wall.

"What is it? I hope we don't have to give the wolf man a shower," I said, "although he certainly looks like he needs one."

"No, we need to get food for the little people," Evra told us, "come."

"What are the little people?" I asked him.

"They are people who are…little," Evra said.

"Oh my god, I never figured that out before," Darren said with sarcasms.

"Mr. Tiny bought them here before I even came here. They just help mostly, doing backstage work and selling things. Oh, and they only eat meat; and I must warn you, don't make fun of them or be rude at them at all." Evra said, "Best of all, just leave them alone."

"Okay…" Darren said, shrugging. I shrugged too, whatever Evra said is dangerous, and I'm not touching. Hey, I don't want to be the one who makes a mistake on their first day!

He led us to this junkyard, where we stomped around looking for animals. When we found some, we sank our nails into them and kill them, then put them in a big brown sack. As I refuse to harm any rabbits, I ran around chasing rats. Darren, who was quite fond of rats (gross, right?) told me not to harm them but I did anyways. I'm not killing rabbits and that's final. By the end of our hunt, we had five rats, two rabbits, one badger and a fox.

"We'll need to hunt again tomorrow," Evra said, "they eat a lot."

"Are the little people those things in blue robes?" Darren asked.

"Yes," Evra said, looking over his shoulders. "But don't let them hear you call them things. They're known to eat…things other than dead meat."

"So, what do we have to do now??" I asked him. "Do we get to like, I don't know, help cook the food or make the fire?" I asked. "Or do we feed your snake?"

"Right now it's free time, meaning you can go any where you want." He answered, leading us back to our tent. "But I guess you guys should set up your things first."

"Yeah, sure, but where on earth are we going to sleep?" Darren asked, "I don't really fancy sleeping on the floor." Evra lead us back to the tent without saying anything.

"I see that Mr. Tall had given you hammocks," Evra said, pointing the sacks Mr. Tall had handed us early that morning. "Here, I'll help you put them up." And so he did, and when he was done, there were now three hammocks evenly spaced inside the tent.

"Dibs on the one near the entrance!" Darren exclaimed, and jumped into the first hammock.

"What ever, if we get muddy your hammock would too," I told him, and he threw his shoe at me. "If you throw your shoes at me, I'll just throw them outside into the mud."

"What ever," he said, and started piling pillows and blankets into his hammock. Surprisingly, the tent looked a lot bigger than it was, and there was a lot of space between us.

"Do we get shelves and closets?" I asked Evra.

"No, but this space here is all yours," he said, pointing at a large space, "and we each get this." He tossed me a flat piece of thing.

"Ok, so…what do I do with this cardboard?" I asked, turning it around and around.

"It's not cardboard, it's a desk, kind of," Evra said, and touched a flap of the thing. It un-flapped and he started to pull the flaps. A few minutes later, there was a little desk-like table.

"Cool, did you make it? Hey, maybe you have some mystical snake powers!" Darren said excited.

"You're hopeless, next you'd be asking if there are werewolves and unicorns," I snickered, and took the little desk. "Time to organize things in my bag!" Darren was right, in a way. I did pack a lot of things, and most of them were unnecessary. Basically, this was the list of things I bought: clothes, shoes, a blanket, a pillow, , the tape player, the portable make-up kit, the portable art-kit, the dagger, that silver acorn, my set of Harry Potter books, the Artemis Fowl book, a photo album.

"Why on earth did you bring all those unnecessary things?" Darren asked.

"Because I want to, and you're so not touching any of them unless you want this dagger slicing your neck and your head stuffed with garlic then tossed into the river!" I snapped, pinching his hand that was creeping towards the book Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone.

"That's the Harry Potter book?" Evra asked, "It's thick…"

"They're all thick," I told him, "wait 'till the last book comes out, I bet that it's at least five inches thick!"


	9. Chapter 8

We lived in the Cirque Du Freak by helping out and stuff, and putting up the seats. I've lost track of how long we've been here, but I knew we've been here pretty long as we knew everyone.

"I'm bored," I said one day, after reading all the books over and over again. Evra was fascinated by all the music, and he was obsessed with Harry Potter.

"Yeah, can we go some where? Like perhaps to the cities or the town? I want to be near some ordinary people for a change, I've been living with extra ordinary people and Vampires for more than a month," Darren complained.

"Sure, there's a village close by," Evra said, pulling off the earphones and pulling on some shoes. "It's near, we can just walk." They walked for a short while, and arrived at a little village. There were no shops, but there were many houses.

"Are there any people?" Darren asked, frowning.

"Of course there is, did you think that those houses were for fairies?" I snorted, and ran to the front then back. "There are none that I can see, true."

"Where are they?" Darren asked.

"There's this little boy who wanders in the fields, we can scare him," Evra suggested, and they ran off laughing, leaving me behind.

"Humph, boys, always forgetting about stuff," I snorted, and ran near the houses. There's got to be a family with a daughter her age, right?

"Are you new here?" a voice asked. It came from the above, so I glanced up and saw a figure sitting on a tree branch. It jumped down and landed in front of me.

'I asked, are you new here?" It asked again. I can't see who it was, not even if it's a boy or a girl because it was wearing a black hoodie with the hood pulled way down.

"No, I'm just traveling," I told it boldly.

"Ah, pity, there aren't many people my age around here, only myself and Sam Gret the freak," it said, and pulled of its hood. Now, I saw that it was a boy around Evra's age with scarlet hair and bright blue eyes, and with a pang she realized that he looked very much like Steve other than the fact Steve's hair was grayish while this boy's hair was dyed red, and Steve does not have blue eyes. Besides, this boy was taller and had an arrogant look.

"There aren't any girls here?" I asked.

"No, other than four year old Willa Jean, and baby Maria, both Grets, and the rest of them are all off to college," the boy replied.

"Who are you?" I asked. I'm not going to be talking to some kind of weird person. This boy has a weird aura coming off him, and he was creepy wearing his dark hoodie and cargo trousers in the sun.

"Sorry, forgot to introduce myself. I'm Jans Vladimir," the boy said, holding out his hand. It was as pale as his face, and he was wearing a silver skull ring. Ok, I know that I'm not exactly regular wearing my snake ring, but a skull ring? That's totally emo.

"Evangeline…Cho," I said quickly, and shook his hand fast. It felt like shaking hands with a person made of ice cubes; his hand was cold and wet.

"So, where do you live, Evan?" Jans asked. No, I do not like the fact he guessed my nickname right away one bit!

"I'm traveling with some friends," I told him, stepping back. That wasn't exactly a lie, I _was_ traveling with friends. Suddenly, Jans sighed and sat on the sidewalk.

"Are you okay?" I asked him cautiously. Sometimes emo people cut their wrists, and I do not want to witness this certain Jans Vladimir cutting his hand off.

"No, it's not your fault," Jans sighed. "It's just me. My style, I mean. A lot of people think that I'm some kind of gangster riding Harleys and killing random people, or that I'm some kind of emo or Goth just because I dress like this, but that doesn't mean I go around killing people and skipping school. In fact, I still get strait A s, but they just don't really believe me."

"Why? I mean, being…different doesn't mean that you don't get good grades and stay in school," I asked, puzzled, and sat beside him cross-legged. "A lot of people ride were different in my old neighborhood…until…" I had never talked about the whole 'death' business after it was done. Mr. Crepsley had also told us we shouldn't tell people we don't trust that we're vampires.

"Something happened?" Jans asked.

"Yeah, something terrible." I said, staring at the sky. "And the worst thing is that I'm traveling with the person who caused it even though he didn't mean to."

"Did they…die?" Jans asked softly.

"No, they're not dead…let's just say that they're alive and well but I'll never see them again unless I spy on them," I told him.

"Are you with one of those nature warriors?" he asked, pointing at a few people carrying protest signs coming our way.

"Yes I am and I'm the Vampire Queen of the Darkness," I said sarcastically, and pulled him up. "If you don't want to hear them rant on about saving the earth, I suggest that we go some where else."

"That's exactly what I was about to say," Jans agreed, and we sprinted away, me following him, until he took me to a woods.

"They won't come here, they think it's haunted," he told me, and we climbed on to the trees.

"Have you lived here all your life?" I asked.

"Yeah, and I'm dying to go out someday," he said, and leaned against the tree trunk. "It's terribly boring when you've been here for thirteen years.

"Hey, did you hear that?" I said stopping the conversation. I had thought that I had heard Darren and Evra.

"Hear what?" Jans asked.

"Never mind, I must be hallucinating," I told him, and we both laughed.

"Do you believe in demons?" Jans suddenly asked me.

"What, demons? Sorry, I don't believe in them." I said. At least I hope demons are not real, I have enough trouble coping with vampires.

"The villagers believe that there are demons in these woods," Jans said, "once a girl came in here and the next morning she was found hanging by her neck on a tree. The strange thing was, her blood was sucked dry for some reason as if something had sucked her dry."

"Her corpse was sucked dry? That's freaky," I said. I thought Mr. Crepsley had said that vampires don't kill when they drink, then why is this girl all dried up? Do demons really exist, or is he lying?

"Yeah, she was sucked dry. And, there was this tiny 'X' scratched into her cheek. People said that they saw it the day before and that it was the sign a demon marks their prey. I don't believe in those demons either. I believe that it's something darker."

"You think that it was a vampire?" I asked, hoping for the worst.

"No, not a vampire. There's this really old man who died a few years ago, and he said that he had met a vampire and that vampires don't kill when they fed and that we should welcome vampires. I think that it is something like the vampire but drains the person's life too. I call them the vamons. Demons that had achieved vampire's skills or vampires with demonic powers going around killing people. You think that I'm crazy, right?" Jans asked, frowning.

"No, I don't think that it is vampires either. Do vamons really exist?" I asked. I never heard of a vamon.

"No, they don't exist…I made them up to explain things," Jans said, tossing a branch down.

"Environment warriors get on my nerves…" I told him, "They're weird, kind of like hippies without the sense of style."

"I know, they can at least dye their hair green and dress up as lettuces," Jans said. I laughed at that.

"Or maybe as mushrooms…" another pang hit me, I really miss mushroom! "Sorry, mushrooms just have this…unpleasant effect on me. Do you believe in vampires?"

"Yes, I believe in them. I also believe that old man; that they don't kill when they prey on human blood, and that they are just like us other than the fact that they need blood once in a while to keep them going," Jans said.

"If you can be a vampire, would you? I mean, if you get the chance?" I asked him.

"I…yeah, I think so, it must be great to be a vampire. There's nothing wrong about being humane and innocent as a human, like well…you are, but I would really want to be a vampire if only they were real," Jans said, "I want to see the world." Ha, what would his expressions be if he knew that I'm kind of a vampire?

"I don't know…maybe a vampire's life isn't always adventures and stuff, maybe you'd have to sleep in mud and eat rats?" I asked.

"That would still be cool, I can…adapt to almost any condition other than living underwater," Jans said, "I just want to be a vampire so much!"

"Jans, can you keep a secret? I mean I just met you, but I think you're trustworthy," I stammered. I have no idea why I needed to tell him that I was a half vampire. I just needed to tell a human about all the vampire business.

"Yeah, what is it?" Jans asked eagerly.

"I'm a…oh, there they are!" I exclaimed, pointing at the field far away. "My roommates, I mean. I'm going to introduce you to them!" How stupid have I been, about to tell him that I was a half vampire? Saved by Darren, something I don't want to say out loud. I stood up, and jumped to the next branch and the next.

"Be careful, you'll break your neck if you fall!" Jans yelled, but I just waved for him to come. He didn't know that vampires have great balance! I just kept hopping until I got to the clearing, and saw Darren, Evra and this strange boy with hay colored hair playing on the filed, covered with green seeds.

"You sure are fast," Jans huffed, finally catching up with me.

"Training works,' I told him, and pointed down at them. "The brown haired one is Darren, the green haired one is Evra, and I have no idea who the third person is."

"That's Sam Gret, the geeky kid who's always getting his nose stuck in places he should be in. Does that Evra have _scales_?" Jans asked, "Because he looks like he does, oh, is it his costume or something?"

"No, he's a…snake boy. He's from the circus that I was going to tell you about. The big secret I needed to tell you is that we're traveling with this circus called the Cirque Du Freak, and I'm in one of the shows. That's my secret." I said hurriedly. Now, all I have to do is ask Mr. Tall if I can be in one of the shows.

"Wow, traveling with a circus, that's so cool," Jans whistled. "What do you do? Are you someone who could twist their body in every direction? Or a knife thrower, or maybe a magician?"

"No, I'm just a backup, like I help back stage and sometimes I help on stage," I told him, "most of the time I just sell stuff."

"That's still cool," Jans said, "I wish I can travel with you guys too, but my parents would never let me. They want me to get a degree and become some doctor."

"I wish I could be back with my parents again…but I never will," I said a little sadly. I really missed my old life, even though this life wasn't that bad.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to get you upset," Jans said quickly, "I just wasn't thinking."

"It's ok," I told him, "I need to get use to the mention of them."

"Let's go down and meet them," I suggested, and we started climbing down.

"How about we stay on the trees, and when they come this way just jump down and scare them?" Jans added, and I grinned back, letting him know that I approve of his plan. We climbed to the other tree and stayed on the branch. Like I expected, they started walking this way. When they were close enough, we jumped down and gave them a fright!

"DEMONS, I TOLD YOU THEY'RE REAL!" Sam Gret screamed, and Evra and Darren screamed too, but then they started to realize us.

"Evan, you…" swearing horribly, Darren tried to punch me as usual, but I hopped on to a branch and his hand connected with a rock.

"Ow!" He cried, and I laughed.

"Serves you right for trying to hit me!" I called, and jumped back down.

"Jans Vladimir," Sam Gret said with distaste.

"Sam Gret," Jans said with mock politeness. "I need to go now, see you very soon, Sam Gret, and you, Evan. I'll always be in the woods," and he sprinted away.

"Who was that?" Evra asked, "I never saw him before."

"Who are _you_?" Sam snarled.

"That's the girl we told you about," Evra said, and Sam calmed down.

"Oh, but what is she doing with _him_?" he asked, meaning Jans.

"I don't know," Darren shrugged, "What _were_ you doing with him?"

"Just talking about giving up eating meat and joining the environment warriors," I said sarcastically, "Really, just about that girl who died ages ago."

"You shouldn't hang around him," Sam said darkly, "he believes in vampires, and he rides a Harley!"

"What's wrong about believing in vampires and riding Harleys?" Darren demanded.

"Nothing, he's just…weird," Sam said.

"He thinks you're weird too," I added, "so basically you guys don't even know each other and thinks that each other are weird."

"That's about it, but why am I weird?" Sam asked.

"To start with, you're covered in green seeds," I pointed out, and the four of us burst out laughing.

"I could tell why he thought you would be…ok, I think," Evra said, keeping his face strait, "did you look into a mirror lately?"

"No, not lately," I told him, I haven't looked into one since I arrived here!

"Here's one..." Sam Gret said, handing me one. I took it, and glanced into it.

"ARGH!" I yelled, almost dropping it. My hair, had grown longer, and is now hanging in a messy line around my shoulders, my face pale, and I looked…dusty for some reason. The only good thing that had happened is that I've lost weight, and now isn't as chubby anymore. Just…a bit more than average. After spending so many nights out training with Darren and Mr. Crepsley, my eyes have this wild look in them, and my arched eyebrows were even more slanted than usual. "I LOOK LIKE A ZOMBIE!"

"No, you don't look like a zombie," Darren said, them three laughing at my expression. "You look like the evil dark lady knight who goes around chopping people's heads off and stuffing them with garlic!"

"Truska will fix you up someday," Evra promised, "I'll ask her."

"Thanks, I really need a make-over even though I'm not exactly a girly girl," I said, handing the mirror back. "I look even worse than I thought I looked!"


	10. Chapter 9

The boys then took Sam Gret around the camp, and he was fascinated with everything. He even wanted to give up his life for the cirque!

"My parents would never let me," he said sadly, "they don't really mind where I go, but then they'll never let me leave them for more than a day." I glanced at my shoes, and stared at my shoelaces. I don't like to talk about parents and not with that weird boy of course.

"Let's not talk about…families," Evra said, and I guessed that Darren already told him about our 'past'.

"Wait, I'm going to ask Mr. Crepsley something," I said, running around the tents.

"Did anyone see Mr. Crepsley?" I asked a group of little people. They looked at me blankly, so I ran to find him myself. Then, one of the little people grabbed my shoelace and I went flying.

"If you found Mr. Crepsley, you can just tell me and not make me fall!" I told them.

"Why did you need to find me?" Mr. Crepsley asked, suddenly standing in front of me, "I was looking for you guys."

"We went to the village," I said hastily, "and I'm just asking if I can be in the show in the next show."

"You can help play the flute," Mr. Crepsley said thoughtfully, "but you'll need to start practicing. Or you can be the one Madam Octa climbs on."

"I…I think I'll sell merchandize then, I don't exactly like spiders," I said.

"Alright, the show is…this Saturday. I can see that you have made some friends in the village, here are three tickets, give some to Darren," he said, and strode away leaving me with the tickets. I ran back to Darren and Evra.

"Oi Darren!" I screamed, waving the tickets. "Mr. Crepsley gave me these tickets; you can give them to your friends!"

"Cool!" Darren exclaimed, grabbing two tickets and handing one to Sam. "Here you go, Sam, now you have a ticket to come!"

"I'll be selling stuff," I told Sam.

"Maybe he'll let me play the flute," Darren deemed, and went back to talk about some cars and soccer with Sam.

"Why do…human boys like soccer so much?" Evra suddenly said behind me and I jumped.

"Evra, I didn't know you were behind me! Don't scare me like that!" I scolded, "Soccer's just this really boring sport where two teams of people chase after a ball you can't use your hand or arm to touch, and you try to kick that ball through the other team's net."

"What's so fun about that?" Evra asked, puzzled.

"I have no idea," I told him, and climbed up a tree next to me. "I seriously don't understand what's so fun about it either, there's no point in soccer." Evra didn't answer; he just climbed on next to me.

"Need a hand?" I asked when he slipped and almost fell.

"Yeah, thanks," he said, and a grabbed his scaly hand and pulled. My new vampire muscles made pulling things a lot easier and I pulled him up easily. "Is it cool to be a vampire? Waking up at night, drinking blood, having super strength and super speed, and a long life time?"

"I don't know, I'm just half of one," I told him, "and right now, I don't feel like a vampire is a great thing."

"Did you want to be a vampire? Why did you become one then?" Evra asked. I glared at him. How dare he ask such questions, when I didn't talk about it with anyone yet, unless it's quarreling with Darren?

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Evra said, but I sighed and slide so I was sitting on the branch.

"It's ok to ask," I told him, "I shouldn't be so…tight. After all, it was about three months ago."

"So, I'm guessing that you didn't want to be a half vampire?" he asked, sitting down next to me.

"No, I didn't, and I still don't want to," I said, and suddenly everything burst out. "I never wanted to be a vampire, I never even believed in them. I had a happy life, my family cared about me, I have lots of friends and four best friends, nice classmates, a good school, and since my family was kind of rich, I didn't exactly live a normal life. Most people don't have sixteen inch computer screens and I-pod touch, you know? So I liked my life. But then Darren ruined it all. He…he stole Madam Octa from Mr. Crepsley because he was an air head, and he accidentally let her bite his best friend Steve! So Steve was paralyzed and between life and dead. Darren's house was in my neighborhood, and I saw him being fishy one night so I followed him to the empty theater, and no one found me until Mr. Crepsley saw my reflection, and he gave me a choice: either we both become half vampires or he'll let Steve die! Of course I'll have to, I can't let an innocent person die, so now I had to fake my death and leave everyone I cared about, and travel around the world hunting, cooking and washing for the people who ruined my life! It's like kidnapping me for their slave but no one will ever look for me because I'm presumed dead!"

"It must be hard to become a vampire if you didn't want to," Evra said, "but how come Darren looked happy?"

"He shouldn't be," I said bitterly, "he's the one who caused everything. He should be feeling ashamed of himself with guilt, but no, he complains about everything, about how the sheets are scratchy, how I shouldn't give him rats to cook when I can't find anything!"

"You must hate it here," Evra said softly, and I felt that he was sad.

"No, I don't really hate it here. It's just like…I have a second life. I like my old life, but I can't go back to it. I don't know which one to choose if I had the choice," I said, "I wish that I was here but it was just an adventure and I could keep in touch with all my friends and family."

"It must be really tough," Evra said softly.

"How about you? Do you ever miss your parents, your friends then?" I asked. "You must have some friends at the orphanage." Evra shook his head.

"I hardly knew my parents; I don't even know how they look like. As for the orphanage, everyone was scared of me because I had scales; the people were happy to see me go with the circus. I had no friends at the circus either; they were all cruel to me." Evra said, resting his head between his knees. "Sometimes I hate the fact that I had scales, slit eyes and greenish yellow hair." I reached over and patted his shoulder awkwardly. I wasn't used to comforting people, as usually I was the one who caused them to be upset of being guilty in the first place.

"I think having scales and slit eyes are cool," I told him, "I've always dreamed of having scales and everything I owned used to have to do with snakes, it drove everyone crazy! They had to ban me from buying everything I see that has to do with snakes later. But my grandmother supported me; she's the one who gave me this ring before she passed away." I took off the glove and showed him a silver snake twisted twice around to make a ring, with rubies for eyes. Evra smiled a bit.

"It's a pretty ring," he said, "but you'd hate being a snake, you'll sleep all winter and if you don't you'll feel sleepy all the time. You also can't get any piercing or tattoos because needles can't go through scales."

"Why would I want piercing or tattoos? They're disgusting," I said, frowning, "They're just things people do to make themselves look silly." Evra laughed.

"I thought that girls always wanted to get their ears pierced, at least that's what I heard the girls who came to the shows talking about," he said.

"Most girls do, but I don't, they're freaky," I said, "Besides, they don't do anything." Evra laughed again.

"You're unusual for a girl and a vampire."

"I _am_ always unusual. Some people hate me for it, and others just think that I'm a nerd, but I don't really care. As long as they don't tease me openly, they're not exactly any harm, are they?" I asked, "Just a bunch of immature people."

"Is school fun?"

"It's pretty boring, but then your friends are all there, and it's fun to piss your teachers off."

"Do the teachers beat you if you do something wrong?"

"This is modern times, Evra, teachers go to jail for beating people up. You get detention, which is basically staying for two hours more writing lines."

"What do you do when you hang out?"

"Just…hanging out, having fun, yeah. Boys usually play soccer, talk about cars, computer games and girls. Girls just talk about make-up, gossip around, books, any random thing, and boys."

"What's home coming? I heard people talking about it."

"Homecoming's just this dance high school people go to. There are no homecoming dancing in middle school, just normal dances where you…just dance to music. There's really not much difference, it's just that you dress in tuxedoes and gowns, and you have to go with a date." Evra stood up.

"I think I'll hate it if I have to go to school," he said sadly.

"Why? Are you afraid of going to detention? It's not that bad, it's just lines." I have no idea why he should hate school, is it because of scales again?

"I won't fit in. I don't know soccer, I am not interested in cars, and I don't know any girls to ask to homecoming." At that, I laughed.

"You don't need to play soccer, or talk about cars, or ask someone to homecoming! Those were just examples, what they often talk about. But they talk about other things too, just start a conversation and they'll talk about that topic!"

"But I have scales, they'll avoid me."

"Yeah right, there are lots of people who don't care! And some people are even weirder, like people with bald heads, hairy faces, and some people have tattoos all over their body!"

"You really are unusual."

"You keep saying that. Is that a compliment or an insult, anyways?"

"I don't know…you just are unusual." I stood up.

"I need to find Jans Vladimir and give him this ticket. Do you want to come with me?" I asked.

"Is he your boyfriend?" I almost fell out of the tree.

"Just because a boy's a girl's friend doesn't mean he's her boyfriend. A boyfriend's someone who…you want to marry in the future, I guess. Not all boys who are a girl's friend are a boyfriend. Like, for example, I'm your friend but you're not my boyfriend, we're just…friends, and it's the same way with Jans. Jeez, I only met him today!"

"Then Darren's your boyfriend?" Evra asked slyly.

"NO! Can you cut out the boyfriend business; you're getting on my nerves." I snapped. "Besides, I already don't plan on marrying. I'm a vampire now, and vampires don't marry. At least I'm not."

"Woo! Evan and Evra, sitting on a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g! First comes love, and then comes…" Darren shouted, and Sam joined in.

"CUT IT OUT!" I yelled down, "I'm not even in a …wait, I AM in a tree!" God, leave it to him to make everything look nasty. I jumped off the branch and landed in front of him.

"I'm going to find Jans and if I find out that you had touched my books you're going to find worms in your dinner!" I snarled, and started to walk to the village when I noticed that I have no idea where Jans lives. "Hey Sam, where does Jans live?" Sam paled.

"No way, you're not thinking of going to Jans Vladimir's house, are you?" he asked, shaking.

"Yeah, I want to give him something," I called.

"It's the house you see if you go all the way down the street. There's only one house there, but I suggest that…" Sam trailed off, and I didn't hear what he said after I don't suggest because I already ran into the trees.

I ran into the village, and just as Sam said, there was a lone road. I sprinted down the road until I reached the end of it where a huge dark looming mansion sat. That's Jans' house? No way…but since it's the only house near there, and then I think I should ring the door bell. Jans said that his parents wanted him to go to college and get a degree, so now I need a disguise.

Disguise #1: nerd disguise. I pulled out my glasses that I kept in my pocket as a lucky charm (don't laugh) and stuffed my accessories in. Next, I took a hair clip and pinned my hair into a bun, something Lexi taught me. Now I looked like some common school girl who studies till three in the morning and wakes up at six o'clock to study. The doorbell for the Vladimir mansion was a button on a gargoyle, and their front door looked Victorian. Good, I haven't chosen the wrong disguise. The door opened, and a tall lean man with neat black hair and a hooked nose looked out. It has to be Jans' house, because this man had Jans' eyes and his face was like Jans.

"Hello, how may I help you? Ah, are you by chance the spokes person for oxford? I did send a letter there a few days ago."

"No sir, I'm here because I need to see Jans," I said in a polite voice, pretending to be addressing the principal. Nice and easy does the trick.

"Ah, his room is upstairs to the right. You seem like a nice well educated girl, what's your name and which school do you go to?"

"I'm Evangeline Cho, sir, and I go to Irvine Middle school for talented youth." That was a lie, kind of, because although I go to Irvine every summer, I never went to school there. It was always an international school, until we moved to England this year. "I'm visiting here for educational reasons, sir; I'm studying about the frolic and history of England."

"Ah," Mr. Vladimir said again. Why does he like to 'ah' so many times? "Go ahead; I'll be in the study. Just go up and knock." And he left striding away to a door. So I need to go up and knock Jans' door? Would he be surprised to see me or shoo me out? I never been to a boy's room before, other than the time I had to get a baseball because I threw it through my neighbor's window. I knocked the door, and even though there were a lot of door to the right, one had music blasting through it.

"Alright, alright, I'll turn the volume down!" a voice shouted from inside. Yep, that was Jans' room. "Jeez, can't you just wait, I can heat up my dinner I'm just not hungry…" then he opened the door and his mouth dropped open. "…yet," he finished.

"Hey Jans," I said nervously. What if he doesn't recognize me? Some times disguises do that.

"Evangeline?" he asked in disbelieve.

"Yeah, don't ask. It's a long story," I said.

"I guess you should come in," he said, opening the door wider. I stepped into a huge and ultra messy bedroom. His walls were lined with posters like my old room, and he also had a large computer. Clothes were all over the place, with a pair of hockey skates near the window and books piled everywhere. Music was blaring from a boom box next to an electric guitar.

"So, what brings you here? Sit down, if you find a place to sit, that is. I don't bother tidying up." He said, gesturing at his room. I took a large stack of books from a swivel chair and stacked them even higher on to an already high stack of books. It was pretty simple for I used to pile all my books up too, until my sister took the liking to knocking them over.

"Wow, how did you do that?" he asked in awe.

"Skills and a lot of practice, as I don't bother cleaning my room either," I replied. "The thing is, I told you that I'm in the Cirque Du Freak, right? Anyways, I convinced the ringmaster to give me a free ticket for you, to the show this Saturday night," I said, and handed the green ticket to him.

"No way!" Jans exclaimed. "That is so cool! And they were fifteen pounds each! That is so great; you're going to be in the show, right? Oh man…" I smiled.

"Yeah, actually, I'm just selling the merchandize, the person I was replacing got better," I told him.

"That's still cool, I wish I could be you!" Jans exclaimed. "Will you stay for dinner? It's steak and clam chowder today." Steak and clam chowder, oh man, my favorite food! But I glanced at his alarm clock and saw that it was almost seven already. Dang it, I'll need to be training with Mr. Crepsley in a few hours!

"Sorry, but I have to go now. I need to help prepare dinner for the crew, and yeah," I told him, "but you'll see me very soon, I go to the field everyday!"

"Great, I'll meet you there tomorrow," Jans said, and I ran out the door to the Cirque.

"Did he try to kill you?" Sam asked eagerly.

"Why are you so eager that he killed me? I don't look like I'm dead or trying to escape, am I?" I asked. That boy is weird. "If I was killed, I wouldn't even be having this conversation with you, right?"

"I just heard that the Vladimir's killed anyone who goes into his house. Hey, I never knew that you were a nerd!" Sam exclaimed.

"I'm not, it's just a disguise," I snapped, pulling my glasses and the clip off. "Can we go eat? I'm starving."

"Truska's preparing dinner, its spaghetti and meat balls today." Evra called from the tree.

"Why are you still on the tree?" I asked him. It's terribly boring to stay on a tree for a long time, isn't it?

"I forgot how to get off this tree," was his reply, so I climbed up and told Darren to stand under Evra.

"What do I have to do?" Darren asked.

"Catch him," I said plainly, and gave Evra a big push. Of course, he lost balance and fell, until Darren caught him out of mid air. But the impact was too big and Darren got knocked off his feet.

"Hey, are you all right?" I asked.

"Yeah, I have a soft landing," Evra said, and stood up.

"Darren, are you ok?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright, other than the fact I was squashed flat and that I'll probably have a scaly pattern on my skin," Darren said, shaking his head.

"I need to go home now, today's pickled onions day!" Sam shouted as he ran off.

"Who did you give the other ticket to?" I asked Darren as soon as Sam was gone.

"RV, we met him today too," said Darren.

"Isn't RV some kind of truck or something?" I asked with a frown.

"Yeah, but his name is RV. His nickname is Reggie Veggie, and we don't know his real name so we just call him RV." Evra said, "He's one of the peace hunters."

"Oh, the nature warriors," I said in a flat voice. "The stupid idiots who think walking around would help nature, as if."

"I approve of their nature walks," Darren said defensively.

"What ever, let's go Evra," I said.

"But I agree with Darren too," Evra disagreed.

"What ever!" I cried, and walked off myself. Boys, who know s what goes on in their minds?

"Hey Truska," I said, stepping into the kitchen. Truska said something in her seal language that I took as a hello.

"Can I prepare Darren's dinner? Which plate is Darren's?" I asked. Truska knew all our names, so she pointed at the plate that was Darren's.

"Ok, Truska, Darren is bad so I'm going to give him a replacement for his noodles, ok?" I asked her, and took out the jar that I was saving for Darren. Truska laughed then winked and poured the jar on to Darren's plate.

"Thanks!" I said, and hugged her then ran out.

"What are you smiling at?" Darren asked, "I have a bad feeling. When you're smiling it means something bad is going to happen to me."

"Oh, you'll see," I said with a smile. Come, Truska finished dinner and everyone's already starting to eat. We lined up behind a few people, and soon we reached Truska.

"Hey Truska," we all said, and I smiled at her. Truska winked back and handed us some plates. Fore some reason, _my_ plate was wriggling.

"Evan, trade plates. I have a feeling that you and Truska putted something in my plate," Darren said, and pushed his plate to me.

"Sure," I said, and gave him my plate. I ate his spaghetti, which tasted normal. Then I realized something. Truska knew what I was doing, and she's a lot smarter! She knew that Darren would feel something is fishy so she gave me the plate that we did something to, knowing that Darren would want to switch! Good old Truska, I could always rely on her.

"Hey, why are my noodles moving?" Darren asked with a frown.

"You need to get your eyes checked," Evra said. "Wait a sec, they really are moving!"

"Evan!" Darren yelled.

At that point, I couldn't contain my laughter.

"I…switched the…noodles for…_worms_!" I laughed, "its pay back…to what you…did…this afternoon!" Evra laughed too, and Darren did too when he wasn't mad anymore.

"Holy, leave it to you to put worms in my plate!" he cried.

"Thanks Truska!" I called, and Truska waved at me. I gave her a thumb up sign in return and she laughed.

"That was so funny, and you were eating it in! Yuck!" Evra said, and we laughed again. Suddenly Darren stopped.

"I hear things moving," he whispered.

"Demons?" I asked with a smirk.

"No, near the wolf man's cage," he said with a frown.

"I'll go check," I said, "if its demons, I'm going to tell them to haunt you!" With that, we laughed and I ran to check on the wolf man.

"Is anyone there?" I whispered, but my voice was so low that no one heard it. At least I thought no one did. The sky was dark but with my vampire powers, I could see clearly, at least better than humans. There was a figure fiddling with the lock of the wolf man's cage!


	11. Chapter 10

"Stop and slowly back away," I hissed. The figure stopped, and flicked on a lantern. I jumped into a bush silently. The person was a fat man in his thirties, wearing a green shirt and he had a big beard. One of those nature warriors, I bet.

"It's not right to keep him locked up!" the man cried, "Show yourself!" I thought of a plan to drive him away that is a really dumb plan and would probably fail. I sneaked out of the bushes and behind a wall. Vampires can move at amazing speed, so fast that you could almost not see them. I overheard Mr. Crepsley telling Darren about it in the junkyard weeks ago.

"I am so hungry," I said in a quiet voice, and walked out behind the wall into the light. In the beam, I must look oh so pale and hungry.

"Little girl, it's not safe to be…" the man said.

"So hungry, I want food, do you have food?" I asked in the same false girly voice.

"Food, no, I don't, but I could…"

"Food, I need food, I need to eat," I said, stepping closer.

"Really, little girl, this is not the place for you to…

"Food, I want to rip, I want to tear, food…"

"Girl, you…"

Look out behind you!" I shrieked, and as he spun around, I picked up a piece of metal and banged him on the head with it.

"Serves you hippie right for trying to free the wolf man," I said darkly, then looked back down on the knocked out man. That was kind of fun, pretending to be a zombie from resident evil and banging that fat man on the head with a metal bar. Then, I dragged him into the forest where I met Jans.

"It's not my fault if you get eaten," I whispered, "You'd deserve it for trying to free that beast." I turned and walked towards the camp…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Evangeline, Evan, wake up!" A voice said, shaking me roughly. No, I don't want to wake up yet. My mom is making steak for me and I'm going to homecoming with Steve.

"Evan, really, you need to wake up now." Now, I'm being crowned queen.

"WAKE UP!"

Steve's taking my hand and…SPLAT! I fell out of my hammock.

"What the hell," I grumbled, standing up. "You better have a good reason, Darren Shan."

"It's Saturday afternoon, Truska is going to give you a make-over. Where did you go last night? We couldn't find you and at midnight Mr. Crepsley found you face down in the woods."

"It's afternoon? But…isn't it morning?"

"Its afternoon already, we all had lunch two hours ago. Mr. Crepsley told us not to wake you."

"What about the woods? What was I doing there?" I asked. All I can remember was then dragging the fat man into the woods…then nothing. He must have banged me on the head, gain conscious or something, and then left the scene.

"It was a nature warrior trying to free the wolf man. I knocked him out and bought him there, but he must have waked halfway and knocked me out,' I told them.

"Hey, is…oh, you're awake. Come on, Truska's getting impatient," Evra said, and pulled me out the tent.

"Ow," I said, and looked at my arm. A single green scale was splintered there. "Where did this come from??"

"Oh, I'm shedding, so my scales are falling off. Sorry," Evra said, and pulled on some pink gloves. "Truska lent me those, but I don't really like them.

"Too right, I have the right pair for you. I'll get them later," I told him, as Truska pulled me into her tent. She pointed at a bathtub, where I took a long hot bath with lots of sweet smelling oils, and then she washed my hair and wrapped me in a bright blue bathrobe, and gave me a manicure.

"Not pink, ok?" I told her, pointing at her pink nails and making a cross with my fingers. Truska laughed and shook her head, then dried my hair and took a knife. "Truska, what are you doing?" Truska took hold of my hair, and actually cut my hair off until I had some kind of triangular hairstyle that looked like clover in the T.V. show totally spies, other than that it was kind of spiky at the ends, and handed me a bundle of clothes. I showed her a purple costume that looked so awesome, which is this dark purple shirt with gold linings and dark purple pants, but she shook her head and opened the bundle. It turned out to be black shirts and pants.

"No, I'm so not wearing that!" I told her, but she ignored me and pulled the clothes over my head.

"Truska, no!" I moaned, but she only smiled more. After she dressed me, she pushed me to a mirror and I saw that it was just tight pants, and the loose shirt, then she tied a thing silver belt tight around my waist and a bandana thing on my head so that I looked slightly like a pirate. "I don't fit this look, I like some kind of gothic demon, Darren will make fun of me all year!" Truska only said something in her language and smiled.

"You know that I don't understand your language!" I told her, but that only made her smile even more. She pointed at my necklace and smiled.

"My family gave it to me," I told her. "It's a goodbye present, sort of." Truska gave me a small little smile and started saying something. Although I don't understand a word of what she's saying, she used lots of hand gestures and I could tell that she was talking about her past. She said something of water, so it's something to do either with a flood, a beach or something like that and something about a man and a girl, perhaps her father and her sister? Or her husband and her daughter? Then another man who's on a ship, either a fisherman or a foreigner? That strange man came and killed them but spared her for some reason, and so now she's here because she doesn't have a family.

"That's sad," I told her sympathetically. She nodded, then smiled and pulled me out the tent to Mr. Crepsley and Darren.

"Holy, you look like a pirate!" Darren said later when I came out. He was wearing that purple suit, so I understood why Truska didn't let me wear it. I don't want it now either, it has ballooned sleeves!

"What ever, I hope that Madam Octa bites you," I told him, and walked away. I sorted the trolley with all kinds of spider merchandize, like a plushy Madam Octa and plastic replicas of her. There was also spider venom in glass vials, something they started selling ever since the last two shows, or so I've heard. There were also spider key chains, the candy that we bought when I came here with Lexi first, and some new candies that were jaw breakers the shape of spiders and this mechanic spider that actually moves when you tell it to do things. I have no idea how they made it, but Seersa told me that Mr. Tall invented them when she suddenly decided to talk to me when I handed her the plate of food one night. I have never heard Sive talk for some reason. Soon, the show ended. People walked around, looking at the merchandize, and I sold quite a few items before Jans spotted me and came over.

"Hey, the show was awesome! Can I meet the spider?" he asked.

"No, she's resting, sorry," I told him, fibbing. Mr. Crepsley had made us swore not to let anyone see Madam Octa after the show.

"Oh well, it was cool," he said, "All the acts were so good!"

"I know, they're all nice too, like they don't get mad at us or beat us when I accidentally give them raw meat that is supposed to be for the wolf man and stuff," I told him, and he laughed.

"Cool, how much is this spider key ring? I have to go soon; my parents don't know that I'm here!" Jans exclaimed.

"You can have it for free, I'll pay for it for you," I told him, handing it to him and watched him go with the crowd, only turning back once to wave at me.

"You," someone wheezed, and I turned around, but no one was there. Weird, are my senses getting duller?

"Evan, Mr. Crepsley wants to see you urgently," Darren said, running up to me.

"Sure…" I said, and raced to Mr. Crepsley's tent with him.

"Evan, did you drink from that man?" Mr. Crepsley asked when he saw me.

"No…it was too risky, he might have woke up" I told him.

"You must get some blood soon, or you'll run out of blood!" he said, shaking me. "Darren needs blood too, but he's a boy so he could stand the lost of blood longer, but you need blood soon!" jeez, what is it with vampires and girls?

"Sure, I'll get blood soon," I said.

"This is not a joking matter, you could die!" Mr. Crepsley shrieked.

"Oh…" was my reply, and I went back to our tent.

"Why do you rebel against things so often?" Evra asked.

"Because I want to prove myself, I want to prove that I'm not weak just because I'm a girl," I told him, "people, like a certain vampire, think girls are weaker than boys, and I'm trying to prove them wrong."

"Then, why don't you just tell them?"

"Don't ask me, change the topic please."

"I have no idea. Um…Why am I not like a normal teenager?"

"I don't know your scales? Being normal isn't good sometimes either, people ignore you."

"But I want to act normal.

"Who's your crush then?"

"I can't tell you."

"See, you're acting like a normal teenager."

"And?"

"I'm going to sleep now, don't wake me."

"Evan, are you asleep?"

"Yes."

"NO you're not."

"Go to sleep, Evra."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the morning, we had the usual plate of sausages, and then did our chores. In the afternoon, because Jans told me that he was having an interview in the city, I played soccer with the others.

"Evan, you really suck at soccer," Darren laughed when I experimented a punt and landed face first into the mud. I made a face at him.

"It's not my fault that I suck at it," I told him, "anyways, I want to try goalie."

"I doubt that you'll be much better," Darren said, shrugging, but he let me try it. It turned out that I was better at being goalie than being anything else, so we played two on two, me and Sam on a team and Darren and Evra on the other. We lost thirty five to one, but we all had fun even though we were soaked with mud and sweat. Then, we debated the pros and cons of stealing one gold bar or ten gold bars.

"Stealing one gold bar is better, you're less greedy," Darren protested.

"But if you're going to steal gold, isn't it better to steal ten gold bars??" I argued, "you'll still go to jail if you're caught, whether you stole one or a thousand gold bars. They don't go like, oh, you only stole one gold bar so you're free to go while the person who stole ten gold bars is going to jail."

"Well, one is enough for a life time's riches," Sam said, "You don't need that much gold."

"But gold's good, you can sell it and get lots of money from It and buy lots of things," Evra said…

The next morning was the same as always, we helped with chores, and by afternoon we get to have free time. At the afternoon, I went to visit Jans.

"Hey, can you play the electric guitar?" he asked me.

"No, I never tried before, and I don't really want to try," I said.

"Can you sing?"

"My singing breaks windows.

"What can you do?"

"I can play keyboards, does that count?"

"Never mind then, so, what do you think that monster was? I know that it couldn't be a vamon. I invented that word."

"Maybe it's a…vampet?"

"What on earth is that?"

"No idea."

"It sounds…cool but I don't think it's even a word."

"How about the vangaroos?"

"Come again?"

"The cross between a vampire and a kangaroo."

"Is that even a thing?"

"No."

"But it has to be something real, if it's not real then how did she die? Suck her blood dry then hung her?"

"Don't know, maybe some vampire bats drained her?"

"Yeah, and I'm an angel."

"You're not an angel?"

"Really funny."

It went on and on, we debated about what that mysterious thing is, and how the girl died, then we went on about whether My Chemical Romance is an emo band or not, until it was eight in the night.

"Ah, I need to go; my teacher is waiting for me!" I cried, leaping up.

"So, will you still be here?"

"Yeah, duh, I'm probably living here for one more month," I told him, and ran all the way to find Mr. Crepsley.

"There you are, did you see Darren?" he asked.

"No idea, I was visiting a friend," I said.

"You didn't drink from a frog, did you?"

"No, why? I thought frogs are poisonous to us."

"Your face is all red."

"Because I ran all the way."

"You can't make your face that red by running all the way."

"Ok, ok, I accidentally fell off a tree in front of the villagers."

"Ah, so you have no idea where Darren is?"

"No, I told you before."

"Then go and find him."

Sighing, I wandered around the camp site yelling for Darren but I didn't find him. Evra joined in too but we didn't even see his shadow. I had a feeling that something was wrong, and that I should help Darren, but how am I supposed to help him if I can't find him? I wandered around the camp site, pass the kitchen, pass the empty fire, pass the tent where tonight's show was playing, pass the little people's tents, pass our tent, pass Truska's tent, pass the trailers, pass the empty wolf man's cage…wait, _empty_ wolf man's cage? I looked back at the cage; indeed, the cage was empty, the door wide open the locks ripped off! I put the cage and Darren together, two to two. What if the wolf man got Darren?

"MR. CREPSLEY! DARREN IS IN TROUBLE!" I screamed, looking for Mr. Crepsley. He hurried out.

"Did you find him?" he asked urgently.

"The wolf man's cage…empty…wolf man…gone…Darren," I made out, but he could figure out what I was trying to say.

"I'll warn Hibernus, try to look for the wolf man but don't get killed," was all he said before leaving me.

"Try not to get killed by the wolf man…as if I won't forget that," I muttered, and ran to find the wolf man. There were tracks of paws everywhere, and most of them turned sharply aside a lot. Then, I saw streams of people coming out of the performance tent: MR. Tall must have told the audience to leave early.

"Mr. Tall told me that the wolf man escaped is it true?" Alexander asked me, his face full of worry.

"Yes, it's true," I said, "and we have no idea where he is, or where Darren Shan is."

"OH god," he muttered, then walked the other way.

"Evan!" Evra shouted, running towards me, "I think…heard…Darren…field," he managed, and I sprinted towards the filed. There was no one there, but I could hear a really soft scream from the right: the junk yard. Perhaps…just perhaps…the wolf man was there and Darren was getting killed? Oh no, heaven help us!

"Mr. Crepsley!" I yelled, and the familiar red figure darted to me.

"What is it, did you find…?" he said.

"The junk yard," I said, pointing to the right, "I heard…screams." Without a word, Mr. Crepsley darted away again.

"Do you think Darren's d…d…?" Evra said, shaking. I shook my head.

"Vampire blood is fatal to most animals, the wolf man probably knows that, but Darren may be wounded badly." Then Mr. Tall's voice rung in our heads.

"All members of the Cirque Du Freak return to your tents. The wolf man's been found."

"Let's get going then," I said feebly, and walked back to our tents.

"Are you just going to wait there?" Evra asked, shocked.

"What else can I do?" I asked, "Mr. Tall told us to wait here." Evra sat down on his hammock, and we waited for what seemed like the longest time ever.

"Evan, are you there" Mr. Crepsley asked.

"Yes, is…?" I asked, worried. What if Darren died, I never told him that he was a good friend!

"No, he's not dead, but…_Sam Gret is dead._"

"How did it happen?" Evra said, horrified.

"The wolf man killed him; apparently some environment warrior let the wolf man out, but got killed."

"Sam Gret…" I mumbled. That was so unfair; Sam was a sweet, innocent boy who was fun to be with and a good friend. "Can he be, well, saved?" I asked Mr. Crepsley.

"Dead means dead, Evan," Mr. Crepsley said kindly, "The wolf man ripped his insides out and ate them. I made Darren drink his blood, and so now Sam Gret is also part of Darren now."

"It's so sad," I said sadly, "I hope…no one dies unexpectedly again."

"You'll get used to it," Mr. Crepsley said, then left.

"Let's go and find Darren," I said to Evra, and we ran to the edge of the camp. Darren was walking towards us his shirt covered in mud, blood and sweat, and looking very down.

"Mr. Crepsley told us what happened," Evra told him gently, putting an arm around him.

"Do you want…anything to eat?" I asked kindly, not acting like myself. I put my other arm around Darren's shoulders too.

"Do we have any…pickled onions?" was all he said as we walked him to the kitchen, sounding like that smart, funny friend we used to have.


	12. Chapter 11

Alala, thanks for all the reviews!

Lemme remind everyone once more: I don't own Darren Shan and all the original characters!

and umm...this chapter is quite pointless, actually....and really cliche-y....I just kept it because, well, I felt like writing something realllllll cheesy *shot*

* * *

Sam died unfairly, true, but now we have to find a way of letting his parents know he's dead. We can't just leave him buried, but we can't just turn up with his body without some kind of explanations, can we?

Midnight is the best time to think, and a long, cool walk in the forest was the ideal spot. The crisp fresh air tasted sweet in my nose, the cool wind swept through my hair, and the darkness makes me feel safe when I'm hidden in the shadows of those tall, looming trees. I quickly walked into the mist of trees; my footsteps crunching lightly on the leaves. Above my head, the moon shone brightly like a silver pearl in the sky. A gigantic, round, silver pearl with lots of craters. Strangely, my mind drifted to love. What is it like to be in love? Sure, I've had a lot of crushes, but as in real love. Lexi said that you feel light and bubbly, as if nothing could ever make you sad again. That sounds very…unreal. It is not logical that someone could feel like they're flying and bubbly on the ground; Besides, Lexi's wisdom isn't and shouldn't really be use to be taken seriously. Lexi's question floated into my mind again: who would you rather marry, Steve or the snake boy?

That time, I did not know what to choose. Now, I would probably choose Steve over Evra. No, I'm not saying that Evra is not a good friend, but I just can't imagine him wearing a formal black suit waiting at the end of the aisle. If Lexi was here, she'd probably make me choose over Jans too, but that is such a no. There is no way I'm marrying someone with purple hair and earrings! Sure, he can dye it back and take off the earrings or something, but Jans is just a friend, a very good friend.

What would Lexi be doing now? Will she be calling Amber and Fiona over for a sleepover as usual, or would she finally be studying for a test? Would my family still be mourning, or did they have another child, a child that replaced me completely? Oh, how I wish to go back to them, to tell them that I'm still here and I'm only…gone for a while, but that I still do exist. I still remember all those celebrations and holidays and all those awesome parties…especially the ones we had on holidays. It must be summer now, I have lost track of date ages ago. I don't even know how long we've been here! What I do know is that it's not winter yet, so I must have not been here for a year yet. It was just a few months after the Christmas breaks that I became a half vampire, so yeah. It must be somewhere in summer, because it feels…like it is summer. We must have passed Lexi's birthday…I wonder if she still had a party even though I'm not there.

One side of me wanted her to have that party, she doesn't deserve to mourn for me so long, besides, and I'm not even dead. The other side of me wanted her to not host that party. How could she host that party when me, her best friend, is dead? No, not dead, but she'll never see me again! Crunch, crunch, crunch…what was that? I froze on the spot, I think there's something behind me…I turned around, but there's nothing there. Oh no, is it really my senses dulling? "Darren, if it's you, I know you're there," I called, and kept on walking. Silly me, it's probably Darren going for a walk too, or he's trying to scare me as usual. I walked faster, if he thinks that he can catch me, and then I'll make him work hard for his glory! CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH…the footsteps got louder and louder, but no one was there. Was it possible that…that thing that killed that girl is coming after me? No way, demons don't exist, I'm just…superstitious, and that's all. CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH…ok, I'm not just a bit superstitious, I'm very superstitious!

"Darren, stop that, you're getting on my nerves," I snapped, and started running. CRUNCH, CRUNCH, SNAP! I froze, what was that snapping sound?

"STOP IT, DARREN!" I screamed, but my voice echoed in the forest with no reply. Why are my senses not coming back? Oh man…when was the last time I had human blood…I guess it was from that fat man, and I only had a bit. I must be running low on human blood so I'm just a half vampire without vampire powers, meaning I'm just a bit better than a human now! Where on earth can I find a human to drink from which is such a problem! I can't just climb into someone's house and drink from them! SNAP! There's that noise again! But…it doesn't seem to be from anywhere around me…then, I felt goose bumps. Oh no! I had forgotten to check the dangerous place, and made the mistake all those stupid heroes made in murder films: above my head. There must be someone above my head, but I didn't dare look up. No, I must. What if it's just some stupid squirrel making me all freaked out? I glanced slowly at the branches on top of my head, where a lone figure squatted on it.

"Jans, it's you," I said, sighing with relief. "You got me freaked out there, don't you dare do that again!" So it was just Jans, freaking me out. But why isn't he saying anything?

"Jans, are you alright? I didn't mean to make you bad, I just…" The moon shifted its position, and I saw that the mysterious stalker was someone with pale blond hair that needed washing, and a hard face with lots of scars. Incidentally, he looked vaguely familiar, or the fact that he looked like someone I knew… "You're not Jans!"

"Took you long enough," the figure sneered in a low voice. The voice was wrong too, Jans' voice isn't deep and rough! The mysterious stalker tensed, and then suddenly dropped down on me! If I had my vampire powers, I could have easily dodged him, but since I'm low on blood, I couldn't move fast enough…the last thing I saw was the stalker's blond hair in my face, the stench of beer, and two bright blue eyes that reminded me of…Sam Gret. SLAM, SLAM, SLAM…what on earth is that noise? Oh god, Darren is making such a racket, I can't sleep! SLAM, SLAM, SLAM…god, Darren, I'm so killing you! Oh well, I must tell him that I found Sam's family…how did I find him, again? Oh yeah, somewhere in the forest, where he knocked me out. What happened after that…how come I can't remember? Unless…I'm still in the forest, and this is where I can't remember? I opened my eyes and blinked a few times. There was the Gret person, nailing me something to the tree I was leaning on. Hey, that's hurting the trees, I wonder what the environment warriors would say…I'll just have to make a run for It then, I tried walking a step gently…no use. How come my legs won't move? I stifled a groan; they must have fallen asleep! Maybe I could do a cartwheel first? I raised my hands and tried to flip quickly so I won't bump into some other tree. Why won't they move? I could feel everything; I could feel each finger, my wrist, my jacket, and the nails in them…why did I ever put nails on my jacket?

"Good, you're awake," Gret stranger said, "Don't you try to move, because I've nailed you on to this oak!" I silently groaned, I've made another mistake. He wasn't pinning some award on to the tree, he was pinning me!

"What do you want with me?" I asked, trying to be bold. I'm a half vampire; a puny little human like him shouldn't scare me!

"You don't ask questions," he said, shaking a finger in front of me, "Now, where is my brother?"

"I don't even know who you are," I said, rolling my eyes. "And if you'll excuse me, my friends are waiting for me."

"You DO know who he is," Gret stranger said, pinning his face close to me so that we were nose to nose. "Sam went to find your stupid little friend Darren, and he never came back, so where is he?"

"Why don't you ask Darren, I have no idea," I said dryly, "And how about letting me go, you're going to pay, literally, for the holes you made in my jacket!"

"I said that you don't ask questions here, or you'll get punishment," he said sternly. God, this Gret has watched too many action movies!

"Fine, I have no idea where he is. He's Darren's friend, I don't exactly know him," I said, "Now let me go!"

"No, you're lying," he sneered, "he used to talk about you at dinner, my dear Evan, about how you fancied that Jans Vladimir over him."

"Because Jans was a lot more polite than him," I snapped, "and, if you're going to question someone, why don't you question Darren? He was with Sam the last time I saw him."

"No, I saw you walking out by yourself," he snapped, "now tell me where Sam is!"

"No, because I have no idea where he is. Why don't you look around? Maybe he's back home already without you," Afraid as I am, I can't help thinking that this person was the dumbest person next to Darren that I had ever met. Besides, I can't just say Sam is dead and be done with it; drunk people don't take in things like that.

"Then I'll have to punish you," he said slyly, "now you'll have to be my bride!" I almost choked on laughter that Gret boy actually thinks that I'll go so easily? No way!

"Yeah right, only when hell freezes over!" I snorted, which was the wrong thing to do because it made him even madder.

"You'll have to, you don't have any family left and my family supports whatever I do so you'll have to." Oh no, Sam actually told them these things? That is kind of true, but I'm mot going to give in so easily!

"It doesn't work that way," I told him.

"Yes it does," he said, "from now on you'll be called the bride of Daniel Gret!" Eew, which parent actually named their child Daniel? Sure, Harry Potter star is called Daniel Radcliff, but no normal parent would name their children Daniel for any reason!

"Forget it, you're not good looking, besides, I don't like people named Daniel," I sneered, "I'll only marry you when hell freezes over!"

"Fine, then die!" Daniel screeched, and waved a butcher's knife in front of me. I gulped a bit; so he did bring a weapon and thought of a plan B: kill the hostage. And I'm still weaponless, so I have zero chance of surviving this alone.

"That's not fair, you have a weapon and I don't," I said flatly. IF he's as dumb as I think he is, he would give me something.

"Do you actually think that dumb?" he asked. Ok, so he's not that dumb. He drew the knife softly across my throat.

"Scared?" he snickered.

"Yeah, because you might kill an atom," I snorted. His face got red, and he swung the knife high.

"You're dying no matter what," He snapped, and lunged forwards, trying to slice my head off. But, a figure darted between and succeeded in grabbing the knife from him!

"Jans, that mad man is trying to kill me," I yelled, for as soon as I glimpsed the purple under the hood, I knew that it was Jans Vladimir, my friend that saved me. Of course, I wouldn't have died because the way he's holding that knife, I would probably get a deep cut that isn't really serious, but I will probably die from lost of blood if I don't make it back to the camp in time.

"I never knew that the Grets were murderous!" Jans yelled, as he tried to pry the knife from Daniel.

"He's drunk," I yelled to him, "so he's kind of, well, I don't know."

"He's always drunk!" Jans yelled back "he always stays in some pub until two in the morning!" Ok, so this Daniel was always drunk, this explains why he looks so effing ugly.

"I know that you're fishy, Jans Vladimir!" Daniel shrieked, trying to pull the knife back. "You're always so nosey, stop prying into other people's business! She's my bride!"

"Evan, is he actually telling the truth??" Jans asked.

"DO you even think I'd marry him?" I screamed back. I'm getting so tired of this marriage business; I'm not even old enough to think about marriages! "Can someone free me from those nails?"

"NOT RIGHT NOW!" Jans screamed as he tried, and missed, to kick Daniel in the shins.  
"Ok…" I muttered, and tried to peel the nails from my jacket. Ow, he almost stuck them into my flesh! It's a good thing that I'm still kind of stronger than most humans, so I succeeded in pulling one nail off my right hand. The bad thing is that there are still four more to go for that hand until it's completely freed. As I pulled them off one by one, Jans was locked in combat with Daniel, both using nothing but there fists, the knife stuck on a tree, forgotten.

"Come on, Ow!" I yelped. Daniel, that careless oaf, had stuck a nail through my palm! Even though I was just lightly, it was enough to feel the pain. So, now I have to try to pull it out. I grasp hold of it and tried to pull it. "OUCH!" I screamed, the nail only shifted a bit, but it hurt like hell! No, I must get this over with; it's just like pulling out a splinter, right? An extra large, silver, solid splinter. I pulled it again; this time it came out a bit. By that time, my hand had almost lost the sense to feel, and my arms ached. One more tug now, before I'm free! I held it tight with my right hand, and bit down hard on my lip. Yes, it's free! But now, nut only my hand was trickling from the wound, my lip was also bleeding from over biting it.

"Jans…ah!" I yelped, because they were coming my way, and so I ducked out of the way. Jans forced Daniel on to the tree, but Daniel fought back, and by the luck of the god of the oafs, his shoe connected with Jans' face and Jans fell on to the earthen ground. Daniel used that chance to pull the knife down and aimed to stab him, but, using my right hand, I reached it before him and threw it next to Jans, who was slowly standing up. Jans snatched it on to the ground, and when Daniel came running at him, accidentally dropped it again. I saw that the blade was now a very jagged blade, cut in half from the impact. It represented a stake more than a dagger now.

"NO, YOU'RE NOT HURTING HIM!" I screamed, and snatched some twigs from the tree. I have no idea how to use them, but I copied this movie I once saw and poked his eyes with them.

"MY EYES!" Daniel screamed his eyes nothing but a bloody mess. It looked so disgusting I had to turn away so that I wouldn't puke.

"Just leave him," I told Jans, but he shook his head.

"He'll have evidence," he said, then swiftly grabbed the knife and impaled Daniel with it. It was nothing graceful and smooth about his death, blood spurted out, covering the trees nearby, and Daniel writhed around as he screamed in agony.

"It seems cleaner in the movies," Jans observed, and I nodded.

"EVAN, WHAT HAPPENED?" Darren's voice yelled from the woods.

"We're here!" Jans called, and Mr. Crepsley and Darren came out from some trees.

"We could not find you, and Darren decided…" Mr. Crepsley started, but stopped. I turned, and I felt everything turn to ice. Darren, with his chin dripping with blood, had made a wound on Daniel's body and was drinking from him! Darren had given us away!

"Jans, I can…" I tried to explain to him, but he only stared at me.

"He has seen too much," Mr. Crepsley said.

"No, he doesn't believe that vampires are killers, he believes that we're good! Jans, you do believe that we're innocent, right? You killed Daniel, not me!" I pleaded, but Jans didn't say a word.

"I always knew that you were fishy, Evan," Jans said finally, "it's just shocking to find that…Darren was a vampire."

"Well…you still believe that we're innocent, right?" I asked cautiously.

"He will have to go, he cannot stay," Mr. Crepsley said softly.

"Great, now Jans can be a vampire like Darren, right?" I asked, excited. If Jans becomes a vampire, then I won't be friendless with only Darren! "Jans, you'll love being a vampire. There are all those benefits and things…"

"You sound like you're a vampire yourself," Jans laughed nervously. "But I know you're not. You're not a vampire, are you?"

"I…" I started to say, but then Mr. Crepsley walked fast to behind him, and twisted his neck, once to the left and then abruptly to the right.

"NO!" I screamed, "he's not…he understood, Jans!"

"He is too dangerous to keep alive, he might betray us," Mr. Crepsley said darkly.

"He'll never betray me!" I cried, but Darren shook his head.

"My friend betrayed me too, when he learned that I was a half vampire even though he wanted to be one of them before," Darren said quietly.

"No, you're all wrong!" I shrieked, "He won't turn against me, he was my friend! He would give his life for me!" No, I won't believe that Jans was dead, it's not possible! I ran over to him, ignoring the throbbing pin in my hand, and checked for a pulse, anything for a sign of life, but nothing was there. Jans was gone.

"It could not be avoided," Mr. Crepsley said, "he would find out soon enough, and he will have to die."

"You mean Sam will have to die too?" I whispered ferociously, "if my parents found out about us, you'll kill them too?"

"Yes, if it is necessary," Mr. Crepsley said flatly, "now we should go back.

"That's not fair," I hissed. So if the whole city found out, we'll just kill them like vermin because we're not human?

"Life's not fair," Mr. Crepsley said without a backwards glance. Darren tried putting his arm around me, but I shrugged him off and pulled the knife out from Daniel's chest, and made a small cross that looked like an 'X' on my right palm.

"On this blood…I swear that I'll never ever marry anyone for Jans Vladimir's sake!" There, now I'd never be 'dirty' even if I'm a vampire, a demon of the night. Now, whether how many thousands of millions of people I kill for my never quenching thirst for blood, I would, at least a little part of me would remain humane and pure, like Jans had imagined me being. Jans thought and believed that I was a human, an innocent human, and a little part of me will always be what he thought I was.

"Evan, please, come," Darren begged, but I ignored him. I took the knife, stabbed Jans in the heart (and getting drenched in blood again), then returning the knife to Daniel's chest with a rough thrust.

"What'd you do that for?" Darren asked.

"It's making Jans look innocent," I explained, secretly proud that I came up with such a great plan, "Now Jans looks like Daniel stabbed him, then he fell off the tree from lots of blood, and then Daniel omitted suicide with the same weapon."

"Smart," Darren said, then grasped me by the shoulders and began pushing me towards the camp. It was so smart, my idea, it must be one of the greatest cheats I've ever performed! I must call Lexi later, and tell her of it. My, she must be mad, it's even greater than her feat when she copied every answer for the next math quiz out of the teacher's handbook! Of course, my forging of Senor Gutierrez's signature was great, but this is better!

"Darren, did you know, that was so my greatest feat ever," I said cheerfully. Why on earth my voice so high is pitched, that's so not cool! "It's so smart, I'm so proud of myself!"

"Evan, are you ok?" Darren asked, giving me a weird look. Is he blind, of course I'm ok! I just did my greatest feat and he's asking if I'm all right?

"Of course I'm ok! I'm so going to phone Lexi when we get back, it's even better than her feat when she copied the math teacher's entire handbook and told us all the answers, even though I got them all right already! Man, I'm losing my memories; I really must buy some extra strong Tylenol when I get back! This is even better than copying Senor Gutierrez's signatures, right? Oh, I'm going to celebrate!" I exclaimed, my hands trembling. Why are they shivering and cold? Oh, I'm so excited I'm nervous, so that's the reason! "I'm so excited, I'm actually nervous, oh, this is so worth celebrating! Do you have any food with you? For some reason I feel hungry, I feel like I didn't eat dinner at all! Why don't you invite Sam over he's such a nice friend, and maybe Evra and Steve, or Alan and Tommy, they're such nice little friends. It'll be a party, and I can ask my mom to rent some movies. Did you watch Titanic yet? I heard that it's a great movie." Darren then shook my hard and made me stand still. "Is there a problem?" I said. Gee, I need to stop sounding so high pitched and cheerful, I'm sounding wrong!

"Evan looks at me. Stop acting this way, Jans Vladimir is dead. Dead, like Sam Gret is. You can't go and phone Lexi or ask your mom to have a party, you're a half vampire now, remember? Evan, forgetting everything is not going to help you, shielding yourself from the truth won't help you either," Darren said sternly. I tried hard not to listen, but his words leaked into my ears like water.

"Oh look, an owl!" I exclaimed pointing at a barn owl sitting on a branch, staring at me, "it's so cute! Do you like owls? They're awfully…"

"Evan, are you listening? Evan, Look-in-to-my-eyes-now." Darren said softly. No, I don't want to. I tried hard not to, really, but I couldn't help sliding my gaze in to his eyes, and locked my black ones on to his brown ones. "Jans is dead, Evan, you can't change destiny, he's gone. Faking and shielding won't bring him back to life, as neither would it bring back Sam." No, I can't believe that! If I don't believe that he's dead, then a little part of him would still be alive, but if I do….then he would be gone forever. No, he's not dead; I won't let him be dead!

"He's not dead," I told him, shaking my head hard, "He's waiting for us at the camp, with brownies he got from the city! Isn't that great?"

"He is dead, Evan," Darren said again, "he won't be waiting anywhere other than heaven now."

"Then let's go find him, isn't Heaven suppose to be a great place?" I ask, trembling slightly. No, Jans is not in heaven, he's waiting for me! He can't just die; he'd kill himself before betraying me!

"Evan, he's dead, face it." Darren said. No, I can't let go of hope, he's still alive! "You were the one who stabbed a hole in him to create a murder scene." No, no, that can't be true! But I looked down at my blood soaked clothes, and my pale fingers splattered with blood, I could tell that he is telling the truth. No more Jans, no more talks about the dead girl, no more chats of Vangaroos. Jans is dead, like Sam is.

"Jans is dead!" I cried, and shuddered all over. A few stray tears rolled down the corners of my eyes, making clean trails in all the blood. "Jans is dead, he'll never come back again. He's dead."

"Yes, it's the truth, you need to accept it!" Darren said firmly.

"Jans is dead!" I screamed, and fell over. I don't want to cry, crying is for the weak, but I couldn't help myself as I hugged my knees and sobbed as if the world was ending. The world _was _ending, kind of, for me at least. I'm all alone on earth again, with no friends other than Evra. And he might betray me if someone threatens with his snake! Doesn't that dunderhead Crepsley understand how hard it is to make a friend that is just like you, and doesn't make you feel awkward with? Doesn't he understand how hard it is to come by with a friend that won't betray you even if you're a demon?

"Jans…is…is…dead…" I cried to no one, throwing a stick at the owl, which hooted indignantly and flew away. "Now…I'm…I'm…all alone on…earth!" No one knows how it feels like to lose everything you owned all at once, and then when you finally got some of it back, lost it by the same person who took it before.

"I know it's hard, but you got to put yourself together, Evan, half vampires watch people born and die a lot, and you can't cry over each of them," Darren said, pulling my arm and making me walk.

"I hate…being…a half vampire!" I yelled into the trees, "There's nothing but work, and all you get in return is pain misery and agony in your hearts!"

"Come," Darren said, and pulled me back into the tent.

"Where were you, Mr. Tall made us look for you?" Cormac asked cheerfully as we walked into the circle of tents. I looked up into his smiling face which reminded me of how Jans' eyes used to sparkle when he thought of an interesting idea, causing me to apart sobbing softly again. Oh, for goodness sake, how am I supposed to gain their respect again by crying myself apart? I'm acting like a loser, a weakling! Cormac seemed shocked, and then everyone stood aside for us to pass until we got back to our camp. I felt someone give me a scaly hug.

"Mr. Crepsley told me what happened," Evra said, "I'm so sorry about him. He was a good friend." That did it; Jans didn't give up his life for me to live in misery, mourning for him every day and night as if I was a ghoul. He would have wanted me to stay as normal as possible, other than the fact that I was a half vampire. I took my bag and wiped my eyes on the sleeve of a sweater, then smiled up at them.

"How about a game of truth or dare before bed?"


	13. Chapter 12

Hey guys!! Thanks for the reviews again! Lol, Evan gets real annoyed at Darren and Mr. Crepsley in these chapters! :D R&R

We lived there fore more than a month; the cirque decided to stay there longer because everyone liked it there, other than me. I don't want to be in this place anymore, this place where Jans died unfairly. It wasn't his fault, he was just trying to help…goddamn those bastards. It's a good thing that Evra is still here, I would die of sadness if I was alone on earth with Darren only as a companion my age, it's such a horrible thought I want to puke. Darren was sad too, true, over the death of Jans, but more of the death of Sam. Sam also died unfairly, he wanted to help Darren get 'cured', and so now Darren is overcome with grief. He and Evra started acting weird, especially one night after I came back from Jans' house, they were shivering and had nightmares that night, mumbling about someone called Mr. Tiny. I thought I had heard the lamest name when I met Mr. Tall, but Mr. Tiny was just ridiculous. I was bored here, every day all I did was chores, then visit Jans, and sleep. It's like repeating the same things everyday! The only interesting thing is that I got a serious fever and only got better yesterday, so I'm not really in the thick of things. Darren told me that a certain Gavner Purl was here, and that he was some kind of vampire general. What is a vampire general? I never heard of them before, must ask Mr. Crepsley. It must be a long time before I catch on with things. However, things were beginning to change…

"Darren, Evan, go and pack." Mr. Crepsley said one night.

"Why?" Darren asked.

"Because we're leaving. Evra may come too if he wants to, it's only for a while. We'll be going to the city and staying in a hotel," Mr. Crepsley said, winking, and he strode away. A hotel in the city? That's wonderful! I love cities, they have stores and malls and five star restaurants there, and it's going to be awesome!

"Hey Evra, we're leaving for the city for a few days, want to come?" I asked, shaking Evra awake. It's always hard to tell if Evra's pretending to be asleep or just ignoring us, because he sleeps with his eyes open as he doesn't have any eye lids.

"Sure, I'll just pack my stuff and tell Hans to take care of my snake," he said, rubbing his eyes and yawning. I stuffed everything into my black converse bag, the same one I used when I 'died'. I have no idea where we are going, so I didn't leave anything behind.

"When are we leaving?" Evra asked.

"I don't know, probably now," I told him, folding up my art-kit.

"Hurry," Darren called, so I crammed it in and chased after them.

"Good, you guys are all ready, now let's go," Mr. Crepsley said.

"Are we going by foot?" Darren asked.

"Can we go on a plane for a change?" I mumbled. I knew that we won't go on a plane, but it was a nice idea.

"We're going by train, bus and taxi," Mr. Crepsley said, "but we need to walk a bit." We walked to the train station, ignoring the looks people were giving Evra, and kept switching trains and buses until we arrived in front of a hotel in the city. I lost track of names, I don't even know if we're still in England! But hey, it was a nice city; I could see lots of shops.

"Our room is room…I think it's this one," Mr. Crepsley said, and pushed us in. There was a T.V, four beds, a nice kitchen, and three bathrooms.

"Dibs on the single room," I called. There were only two bedrooms, one with three beds and one with one.

"No way, I call dibs on that one too!" Darren argued.

"No I did!"

"No I did!"

"I did first!"

"No, I did first! You can share with Evra!"

"No, I got the dibs first!"

"Yeah right!"

"I'm not sharing with Evra, he snores!"

"I don't snore!"

"Whatever, dibs on the single room!"

"No, I am!"

"No, I am!"

"Be quiet, the single room is my room," Mr. Crepsley said, and locked his door.

"Oh well, now we're all together, right? We're one big happy family." Evra said in a false cheery voice and we groaned. If there's something we agree on, it's that Evra's jokes were getting lamer and lamer.

"I'm going out," Darren said.

"Me too."

"You'll need a disguise then Evra," Darren said, reaching for my bag.

"No your not, besides you guys can go in the morning, can't you?" I asked. "I'm not lending my disguises to anyone tonight, because I'm going to sleep!" And that was the end of going out.

Next morning, Darren fixed a quick salami and cheese sandwich and we hurried to disguise Evra. Finally, we decided on giving him a pear of black trousers with a long sleeved black turtleneck shirt, black gloves, sunglasses, a black knit hat and a scarf to tie around his mouth and neck.

"He can't speak that way," Darren said.

"Then make him put on something else, you can speak with that, I've tried already," I snapped, and threw some shoes at Evra. He tried on all the shoes, but finally we decided that the demoniac boots suited him the best so I had to lend them to him.

"He looks like a spy or a gangster," Darren grumbled, but I slapped him.

"He looks fine, it's very fashionable," I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

"What ever, I don't care about fashion, right Evra?" Darren asked.

"Actually, I feel cool." Evra said, and Darren stared at him in disbelieve. "Because it's winter." And I slapped my forehead.

"I get it, it's near Christmas!" I exclaimed suddenly. We were puzzled why everyone was singing and dancing, and why there were lots of decorations.

"Christmas? What is Christmas?" Evra asked, puzzled.

"It's a holiday," I told him and left Darren to explain.

"I bet lots of stuff is on sale right now," I said, "this is so great!"

We ran from store to store, looking at things and poking at stuff.

"Maybe we should get something for Mr. Crepsley? Like…a new cape?" I suggested.

"Or maybe a bible?" Darren added, and we laughed.

"Hey, maybe it'll snow! I can't wait for snow, I never saw snow before!" I exclaimed.

"Oh no, please don't snow!" Evra cried, "If it snows I'll sleep until spring!"

"Well…I still wish it would snow, anyways," I said, and we laughed again. "

"Hey, look at that awesome dagger, it's so much better than yours, Evan, It's a…" Darren trailed off as we got closer.

"It's a poster," I sneered, "and what were you saying?"

"Never mind," Darren said, "I wish that that dagger had been real." He got a punch for a replay.

"Hey, it's getting dark, let's go eat," Evra said, and we agreed.

"Where to?" I asked.

"McDonalds, I haven't eaten there for ages!" Darren exclaimed. "Come on Evra, you'd love to have a big Mac with double fries and an extra large coke!"

"I was thinking about going to Tony's steak house, it's the best," I argued, "Evra, you'd love steak a lot more than McDonald's."

"I want to try some Thai food," was all Evra said. We were stunned; Evra wants to eat Thai food? That was…unusual. Besides I don't even like Thai food, it tastes all sour and sweet.

"Thai food, you're crazy, Evra, what you need is a large strawberry milkshake at McDonald's."

"They have milk shakes in Tony's too, and besides, chocolate is so much better than strawberry!"

"I want Thai food, not a milk shake."

"Steak is meant, Evra,"

"Chicken is also meat, in case you haven't noticed, Mr. Smarty Pants."

"Thai food smells nice."

"McDonald's, we're going to McDonald's."

"We're going to Tony's Steak house!"

"Thai food, Thai food, I like Thai food."

"McDonald's!"

"Tony's Steak House!"

"Thai Food!"

"McDonald's is better!"

"Tony's Steak House! Steak is great!"

"I want to eat Thai food!"

"Steak sucks, its meat!"

"I hate Thai food!"

"I don't like fried stuff!"

"ROCK PAPER SCISSORS!" we screamed, and pumped our fists. Darren had a rock, while both I and Evra had scissors.

"McDonald's here we come!" Darren shouted, and we ran to the nearest McDonald's.

I hate to admit it, but McDonald's really was good. After nearly a year of plain stew and other organic non-fat healthy food, the first bite of burger was delicious and first sip of coke, you're feeling very happy-go-lucky, and when you get the first bite of French fry, you've died and gone strait to heaven without any burying or mourning.

"This is French fries?" Evra asked with his mouth full of French fries.

"Yes, delicious, right?" Darren asked, gulping down mouthfuls of burger after mouthful.

"I can't believe that you've never eaten McDonald's or even a French fry in your life!" I exclaimed, sipping coke. We're in paradise, and not even vampires can…wait, Mr. Crepsley! We still need to make food for him!

"Darren, we need to buy some food for Mr. Crepsley, it's almost seven o'clock!" I told him, and we munched down the last of our food.

"Good bye French fries," Evra said, "I'll miss you when I go back to the cirque."

"What should we get Mr. Crepsley? Some salad?" I asked.

"Yeah, and he'll be mad as hell," Darren said, "how about just a sandwich?"

"Sure," I said, and handed him the money.

"I still don't know why Mr. Crepsley trusted you with the money," Darren grumbled.

"'Cause I'm a lot more trustworthy than boys," I said, smiling. We went back to the hotel before Mr. Crepsley woke, thankfully, and turned the T.V. on. There were lots of channels, so we fought over whether to watch the Simpson family, resident evil three or animal planet, and since Darren won (again) we watched the Simpson family over and over again. It was pretty funny, even though they were re-runs because we hadn't watched T.V. for a very long time.

"I see that you three are all awake," Mr. Crepsley said, and he hastily ate the sandwich. "I'll be back in the morning, try not to destroy the house,

"Where are you…?" I started, but then he already left. "…going?"

"Probably some business Gavner Purl told him about," Darren said, "I'm sleepy."

"It's almost ten o'clock already, of course you're sleepy. I'm going to take a shower," I said, and skipped off. A long hot shower is what I needed after months of cold baths in Truska's room. It was a nice hotel, and it provided good smelling soap and lavender shampoo for the night, and mint shampoo for day. The lavender soap smells so good, but I love the mint smell too! Which one should I choose? Mint or lavender…or maybe minvender? Cool, I made another word again! I must tell Jans when we get back…

"_I still hear your voice when you sleep by my side, I still feel your touch in my dreams, forgive me my weakness, but I don't know why, without you it's hard to survive…"_I sang, singing my favorite song by Cascada. Why hurry, it's the first good hot bath I've had since the show I was in!

"_Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling, and every time we kiss I swear I could fly, can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last, need you by my side..."_

"Oi, are you done yet? Other people need to use the bathroom!" Darren called, rapping on the door.

"I'm not done yet," I said in a sing song voice, "I'll be done in a few minutes!"

"You're not done yet? Jeez, you've been there for almost half an hour!" It was Evra this time, which banged on the door with his scaly fists.

"Wait, I'll be done in a sec," I sang, and rinsed all the bubbles off. Then I dried my body and wrapped my hair in a towel very slowly.

"'_Cause every time we touch, I feel the static, and every time we kiss, I reach for the sky, can't you hear my heart beat so...I can't let you go, want you in my life…"_

"HURRY!" they both yelled.

"Patience is a virtue," I sang, quoting from the movie the mummy. I unlocked the door, and they both fell in. "It's not nice to listen outside the door, you know."

"It's not nice to take such long showers!" Darren yelled.

"I can hear you just fine, you know," I said, irritated, and shoved him aside. Darren stuck his tongue out and slammed the door. I rubbed lotion on to my skin. Where I was smooth and soft was now rough and covered with splinters. This girl needs a serious make-over! Man, I'm starting to sound like Lexi…Wait, I forgot to tell Darren that since I used the water, it would be hot at first, then turn freezing cold because it needs to recharge, oh well, he'll learn.

"AH! THE WATER TURNED COLD!" Darren screamed from the shower, and he ran out with a towel around his middle and covered with soap.

"I think I forgot to tell you to wait a few minutes first," I said casually.

"EVAN!" He screamed, and tried to throw bubbles at me but only succeeded in getting himself wetter.

"Ha, serves you right," I snorted, and started to do a trivia quiz from a book I bought earlier that day.

"I don't know why you bother with studying, it's not like we'll ever go back to school," Darren snorted, then went back to the bathroom.

"Well, I'm not going to be some dimwitted pathetic loser who only studied to sixth grade!" I called, and packed the book away. Really, I did not understand why I bothered to study; it's really boring and it won't really do me any good as the vampires have their own style of education and stuff.

"You got Darren real pissed off," Evra commented as he walked in, dripping wet.

"Why are you all wet? It's not raining," I said with a frown. At least I don't think it's raining.

"I took a shower in Mr. Crepsley's room, you took so long," he said, rubbing his hair on a towel.

"How do you wash your scales?" I asked with interest. Isn't it a pain to flip up every single scale and wash them, then dry them again?

"Just…the way we washed my snake, I guess, I never thought about it much," he said, shrugging. "I don't really think a lot, it's mostly action first then think." Ok, that was interesting…action first then thinks. That's kind of a murderer's thought, I think, but Evra, a murderer? I almost laughed at the thought.

"What are you smiling at?" Evra asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, I just…remembered something funny," I told him, and flopped on to my bed. "I wish we can live in hotels for ever, and in this city. I'd never be bored again."

"I don't really, they still stare at me even though I'm in disguise," Evra said sadly. "Maybe I just am unusual."

"It's because black's not exactly a color you see often in Christmas," I told him, laughing. "We can go buy some Christmas colored disguises, they sell a lot of those these days."

"Really?" Evra asked eagerly. "I hope it's not orange, I don't really like Orange."

"How about red and white? Or gold?" I suggested, "They're all Christmas colors."

"That would be nice, I like red," he said, "This bed is so soft, and I don't think I can fall asleep."

"It's not that soft, it's actually a bit hard! You want a soft bed, try the water beds. They make you feel like you're on jello!" I laughed. What would his expression be if he felt Amber's super large water bed?? Evra didn't answer. I leaned over and saw that he was already asleep. Eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"Talk about hard to fall asleep," I snorted, and pulled the covers up to my ears. This is home now, I feel safer here than at the Cirque. No giant tarantulas or wolf mans will come barging out and eating me…

"_Steve Leonard, what are you doing here?" I gasped as I sat up. I glanced over, Darren and Evra were still asleep. "How did you get in here?"_

"_I hunt vampires," Steve said with a sick, maniac grin, showing his teeth. "And it seems like I found one!"_

"_Steve, you don't…you don't understand…" I cried, backing on to the headboard._

"_Oh yes he does," Lexi??_

"_Lexi, you…what are you…"_

"_We're all hunting vampires, Evan…" It's my parents, but…how on earth did they…and everyone I know! All carrying wooden stakes!_

"_Everyone, stop, I'm not a vampire!" I stood and flattened against the wall. "Darren, Evra, what…"_

"_We're also vampire hunters, Evan…" Darren breathed, each of them with the same maniac grin and holding a stake._

"_WE hunt vampires…and now we're going to kill you!" Steve grinned, his eyes rolling in circles. He bared his teeth and I saw…fangs…I leaned harder to the wall._

"_Crazy, that's what you all are, crazy!" I shouted, but the wall gave away; it was a window…I'm falling, falling, and down there was stakes, rows of them, hundreds of them!_ I jumped up. Whew, that was just a dream, a nightmare…my face was covered in cold sweat, as I had had that dream before…I wiped the sweat away and pulled on some clothes. No need to tell them about the dream, they'll only made fun of me. So,

Today we're going…I don't know, just shopping, perhaps? I went to the kitchen for a glass of water; my grandmother had said that water calms the mind. I flipped through the fridge and took out some bread and cheese to make a sandwich for breakfast. Then, I heard the door rattle and creak open.

"Who is it?" I asked urgently, and then saw a familiar orange haired man with a long scar on his cheek. "Mr. Crepsley you're back, I'm just…" Mr. Crepsley didn't answer but grabbed the sandwich I was about to eat from it's plate and stuffed it into his room then locked the door. Hey, that was _my_ sandwich! Oh well, no need to argue with him.

I took out some more bread and cheese, and made another sandwich, cutting the crusts off slowly. Where on earth did Mr. Crepsley go? That's kind of mysterious, he usually tells us something about where we are and why we are here, I don't even know the name of this city! I left the sandwich on its plate, and went to brush my teeth. I brushed my canine tooth first, looking if it's sharper or longer. No luck, I guess Mr. Crepsley was honest; I won't ever get any fangs. I pressed the toothbrush to it, and crack! It split down the middle.

I sighed and threw it away, then yanked open the drawer for another one. It was the fifth toothbrush I've broke in this month, I just kept splitting them for some reason. It's a good thing that I don't have fangs too, or my cheeks would be ripped to pieces. I already had a problem trying hard not to tear any of my clothes! A bad thing about having super sharp nails is that a normal nail clipper won't work on them, so I have to bite them off. It's good that my toenails don't grow fast, because I certainly don't fancy biting my toe nails off! The only thing that I could do is to keep rubbing my nails against the ruby of my ring, any normal nail trimmers would have broke! I walked out the bathroom, and I felt my temper rise again.

"Darren Shan, that's my sandwich you're eating!" I said angrily to him.

"What, oh, it's your sandwich? Sorry, I thought it's for me," he said through a mouthful of cheese. I glared at him and yanked the fridge open again to find that there weren't any toast left, and the only things for breakfast is a bit of French bread. Yes, we do have a lot of vegetables and meat, but you don't eat curry for breakfast more than you eat cereal for dinner.

"Fine, I'll make some French toast for myself," I said, and pulled some eggs out, mixing them into a delicious eggy batter that I dipped the breads in then fried them on the pan. Soon the room was filled with the delicious scent of French breads.

"What smells so good?" Evra asked, wandering into the kitchen in his blue pajamas.

"French toast, want some?" I asked, flipping some bread into a plate and pushing it to him. I made way too much anyways, I couldn't finish them by myself.

"Can _I_ have some?" Darren asked eagerly.

"No, I don't make breakfast for thieves," I said, sticking my tongue out at him and pushed the rest of the bread into my plate.

"I could beat you in soccer any day," Darren mumbled.

"Sure, but you could never beat me in math, science, geography, Spanish, art…" I started.

"Ok, ok, I get the point," Darren said. I smiled, at least he know it when he should shut up.

"So, are we still going to the city today?" Evra asked.

"We ARE in the city," I told him, "I guess you mean the shops."

"Yeah, are we going there again??" he asked.

"I don't know, ask her royal highness," Darren snorted.

"I don't really fancy going out in the rain," I said. Rain is not my favorite kind of weather, and when it's cold AND raining, I don't want to go out unless I really need to.

"It's raining?" Evra asked.

"Yeah, duh, look out the window," I told him, pointing at the windows. It was raining cats and dogs, and the trees were being blown like tops.

"Ah, well, we can stay in and watch the Simpson family all day long!" Evra cheered, and we agreed.

"Hey, let's make some popcorn!" I shouted, flipping through the fridge until I found three packs of buttered, salty popcorn. "Here they are!"

"Wow, how did you find them? Where did they come from?" Evra asked in awe, "Mr. Crepsley would never buy them!"

"I bought them when I went shopping for food," I told them, "I thought that they'd come in handy eventually, popcorn has lots of uses, you know," I said tossing them into the microwave and stuffing the rest of the food into the fridge.

"Cool, that's awesome!" Darren shouted, and we waited for the popcorns to start popping. Soon, the oh so familiar popping sound reached our years and we pulled the microwave door open.

"It smells delicious!" I said, before we even opened the bag. Oh, I love cities so much! Even though with my super sharp senses everything seemed to be turned on to full volume and I could smell the food even if it's in the fridge.

"I know," Darren said, opening his bag of popcorn. Instantly, the smell of delicious buttery popcorn filled the air. We opened the other two bags, and we were surrounded by the scent of popcorns.

"It smells so good, right?" Evra asked dreamily.

"Yeah, we've died and gone to heaven, heaven filled with popcorn," Darren agreed, and we drifted to the sofas and switched the T.V. on.

"My turn to choose the channel," I remembered, snatching the remote control from Darren and switching to HBO. "Let's watch some movies." Incidentally, it was playing Resident evil, my favorite thriller movie!

"It looks scary," Evra mumbled.

"It's not," I laughed, "besides, you're already living with three blood sucking vampires, a wild half wolf thing, groups of murderous dwarves, what could a couple of old zombies be to you?" They all laughed at that and we resumed watching the movie and munching on popcorn. Other than the fact Evra almost puked when he saw the skinless dogs, called the Cerberus, and the mutant monkey-like thing, we all enjoyed the movie.

"I want to watch the Simpson now," Evra begged, and we watched the re-runs of the Simpson for hours until we all got tired of it and started flipping around the channels and finding that Star Movies was playing all the Harry Potter movies.

"That's Harry Potter?" Evra asked in awe, "he doesn't have green eyes! He's a phony!"

"Evra, it's just a movie," we told him, but he still believed that the Harry in the movie was a phony.

"I still can't believe that Harry's a phony," Evra muttered throughout the movie, but we chose to ignore him. It was so good, turning the heaters on, eating popcorn and sipping hot chocolate with little marshmallows while watching movies for hours.

"What are we having for dinner?" Darren asked, I feel hungry for some reason."

"We didn't even eat lunch yet, it's probably just morning still," I told him, "Man, I hate the new Dumbledore, and he looks fake." To tell the truth, I had no idea what time it was right now.

"Evan, I'm hungry too, what time is it?" Evra asked.

"I don't know, I'll check," I said, and ran to our room and pulled out my watch. Holy god, it's five in the afternoon and we didn't even eat lunch yet!

"It's five in the afternoon!" I yelled, and we hurried to prepare dinner. Dinner was some watery soup, buttered bread and some noodles. Even though it didn't taste awesome, we ate heartily and saved a few things for Mr. Crepsley to eat when he got back and resumed to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Just as we were watching Harry fight the merpeople, Mr. Crepsley woke and walked into the kitchen.

"Mr. Crepsley, your food is on the table," I called out, but he merely nodded, ate the food, and went out the room.

"Don't you think Mr. Crepsley's acing weird?" I asked them.

"Yeah, he's a vampire," Darren said half mindedly, and I had no choice but to watch the movie too. Throughout the movie, I forgot to feel worry about Mr. Crepsley. He's a hundred year old vampire with super strength and super speed, what can he fear?


	14. Chapter 13

I know, this chapter is so short, but it's kind of important. It's just…short because I have no idea what to put in.

* * *

"Mr. Crepsley, where did you…" I started. I woke up to see Mr. Crepsley walk into his room, but he ignored me and locked the door. I frowned. What on earth is going on with him?

"Darren, Mr. Crepsley is back," I whispered, pinching him hard.

"Ouch, you could have just shaken me," Darren hissed. "What's the point of waking me up?"

"I dunno," I said, and shook Evra hard.

"Do you know that I'm awake already?" Evra groaned as he rolled out and fell on to the floor. "I don't want to go out, it's so cold,"

"Fine, you can stay here," I said, and threw some pillows over him.

"Help, Darren, she's suffocating me," Evra's muffled voice came from beneath the pillows. Darren pulled the pillows off, and found Evra asleep.

"He's being suffocated? Really, I couldn't tell," Darren said sarcastically and I laughed.

"I'm going shopping," I told him, "and you're not going with me."

"Fine, I'm going Christmas shopping for Evra and Mr. Crepsley," Darren said, shrugging.

"Fine," I sneered, and pulled on a pair of furry crocs. "Don't wake Mr. Crepsley up!" I walked to the kitchen and checked my pockets, which were empty. Hmm…Mr. Crepsley said that money wasn't the problem, and that the Cirque Du Freak has unlimited money. So that means if I…borrow some money, it doesn't matter, right? So I opened the sugar bowl where Mr. Crepsley told us he keeps the money. Opening the top, I saw that there were at least 1300 pounds there! If I grab a few notes, he probably won't notice. I ran down into the lobby, and read the notice: _Christmas party on Christmas Eve, every guest is welcomed!_ Christmas Eve…when _is_ Christmas Eve?

"Excuse me, but when is Christmas?" I asked the front desk.

"December twenty five, of course," the lady said, giving me a weird look.

"I mean, how many days from now? I'm Jewish and I'm interested in the culture so I thought that the party would be interesting," I fibbed. Ha, as if I'm actually a Jew, I'm not even a Buddhist! The lady's look got kinder.

"Oh, a Jew, right? Christmas is just three weeks from today, and the party is that night, it would be pretty fun," she told me, and I beamed at her.

"Thanks!" I called, and ran out the hotel. How thick was that lady? A three year old could tell that I'm so not a Jew. So Christmas is three weeks away? That makes today…December fourth. Hey, that means we passed my birthday months ago! I'm thirteen now! Wait, but Mr. Crepsley also said that I'll only gain one year in five years…so I passed my birthday but I didn't' gain any age? That was…weird." My life is so twisted now. I ran into the nearest shop. If Christmas is just weeks later, I must buy some gifts! Maybe I should get a silver snake bracelet for Evra? Those are so fashionable now, or maybe a pair of gloves? How about for Darren? Some CDs? A new soccer ball? A new diary?

"Little girl, are you lost?" a beggar asked me. A beggar. I had never seen a beggar before; I've always lived in…better places. But I did hear stories about them, about how they stole your money or follow you around

"Um, no, I'm not lost," I said quickly, then jumped inside a store. It was a sports gear store, maybe I can find some gifts for Darren here?

"How may I help you, girl?" An assistant asked.

"I'm looking for something to give to my twin brother; he's a soccer fan," I told him. Darren wasn't my brother and much less my twin, but he was a soccer fan.

"How about a new ball? Some goalie gloves and shin guards? A pair of sneakers?" The assistant asked. A pair of sneakers, that's the perfect gift! Darren's stuck in his oh so formal loafers; a pair of sneakers would be great!

"I think sneakers are perfect," I told him, and followed him to the shoe area.

"I recommend the Adidas series, they're the latest," he said, "They have spikes and they're extra light weight but heavy enough so that they don't feel wrong or fall off."

"How much are they?"

"It depends, but mostly they range from twenty pounds to seventy pounds."

"How much are these black and red ones?" I asked him. It was a pair of black sneakers with awesome looking red stripes going down, and it was shiny.

"Oh, they're fifty pounds. It's the new kind, they're very popular with teenage boys," The assistant said, beaming, and took them down. "What's your brother's size?" Then, I noticed that I had no idea what size Darren wore.

"I'm not really sure, I'll be back tomorrow then," I said, and left the store.

How on earth am I supposed to find out Darren's shoe size? Oh well, I'll just compare his shoe to mine then. Next stop, Evra's gift! I don't have any idea what to give him, since I don't know much about him and modern things. I wandered into a jewelry store, but found that silver costs way too much. So much for the idea of a silver bracelet. Maybe a snake plushy? Ha, very funny, as if I'd ever be seen holding a plushy and walking around, much less giving it to someone! Maybe a pair of gloves that is nice looking? Yeah, that's a good idea.

I walked into a clothing store, and found a whole section of gloves: Christmas gloves, fur lined gloves, snake-skin gloves, mole skin gloves, silk gloves, elbow length gloves formal white gloves, fishnet gloves…etc. Evra had said that he hates orange, which is good because I hate orange too. I look for ones that I liked and are boyish, which left me to one that's made of black leather with a thin spider web like design between the fingers, so his 'webbings' could fit too. The best part was that there was a silver snake charm with green fake jewels for eyes that looked awesome. Besides, they only cost like, ten pounds. But there were also a lot of sizes to choose from so I would have to compare my hand size with Evra's hands again. I walked out of the shop and bumped, literally, into a boy about seventeen.

"Watch it, midget," he snapped, and then walked away. I frowned; he looked so familiar but I was sure that I've never seen him before! There was nothing unusual about him, other than the fact that he had green hair in spikes, a nose ring, wearing baggy skater clothes and had a small scratch on his cheek. Oh well, I probably confused him with other green haired people I've seen. They all look the same to me. I bought some lasagna from the pasta shop and continued walking back to the hotel. The city is awesome, and full of fun. People were friendly here, at least most of them were. A lot of people smiled and waved at me as if I was some long lost friend of theirs, and people my age (the age I looked like I'm inn) said a few greetings when I pass them.

I've been thinking about the paths in my life. If I had never become a half vampire or been to the Cirque Du Freak, what would I be? Would I still be the fat girl who hung out with Preppy Lexi, or would I be someone else? Would I fawn over Steve, or would I like another better person? I don't know much about this life either, other than the fact that I sense danger coming. My 'senses' of predicting the good and bad got stronger when I became a half vampire, and I could feel them a lot more harder now. What if, just maybe, I'm destined to die as a vampire? To die by being driven through with a stake? A few months ago, I would have agreed to die right away, but now…I'm not so sure. I don't really like being a vampire, but now I'm used to it, the pros were pretty good. I'd have to think a long time before replying, and the fact is, I'd probably vote to stay alive eighty percent of the time. I want to live now, my life isn't too bad and I've got friends too. I don't think I'd ever want to die again, for now I know that when I'm hopeless, hope often rises. How wrong was I about that, or so I think.


	15. Chapter 14

We've begun eating dinner when Darren finally showed up. It was a good thing that he didn't arrive later, for if Mr. Crepsley found out that Darren was gone when he was awake, then he'll be in big trouble. Hey wait a sec, I take those words back. I _wish_ that Darren had arrived later, man, Mr. Crepsley would have been furious! If only I could see Darren's face…oh well.

"Where did you go?" Darren asked, sitting on a chair.

"You first, you're so late, Darren Shan," I said, pouring some orange juice into a glass and draining it. Really, where on earth did he go? He's probably not playing with other boys because he didn't look muddy or dirty at all.

"You look pale, you better get yourself some blood, I already got some a few days ago," Darren advised, ignoring my question. Humph, I knew when I have to drink and when I don't. "Besides, care for a toss?" he took out a gleaming silver coin, tossed it, then slapped it down on to the table.

"Heads, I guess heads," I called out.

"Ha, you're going first," Darren laughed. Shoot, I never had the luck of guessing a coin for some reason.

"Ok, I just wandered around the city looking for stuff to buy," I told him quickly, "You know, I found out that Christmas is just three weeks away. I pretended that I was a Jew and asked the lady at the lobby."

"Say again?" Evra asked, "I don't think what I heard was real."

"I asked that lady when Christmas was, but she got suspicious so I told her that I was Jew who wanted to learn the Christian way and she actually told me!" I exclaimed, and we fell into laughter.

"She actually believed you? That's so funny!" Darren snorted.

"So where did you go, Darren Shan?" I asked. I hope that he didn't go around stalking people, that'll blow our cover of course.

"Well, I just went…around looking at stuff like you did," Darren said, "and I made a friend, kind of. Oh, and I'm going to the cinemas tomorrow. With that friend."

"I don't exactly understand…" Evra said, frowning. I frowned too, but then I understood what was happening. Oh my god, I never thought of it, man! He was honest, in a way. It's not exactly a friend, but it's also a kind of a friend, kind of.

"Well, just remember to hold out the door and don't finish the popcorn yourself, and you'll be fine," I told him, smirking. Darren pretended to look confused. "Stop faking, you know what I mean, you got yourself a _girlfriend_!"

"I…how…you…she…" Darren stammered, going red in the face. Evra looked shocked, but then started laughing with me.

"Ooh, Darren got a girlfriend and is going on a date with her!" Evra shrieked. Darren tried to throw a noodle at him, but it only fell to the floor.

"Is she pretty?" I asked, "Oh, never mind, she can't be pretty. Wait, maybe she could, but she must be simple minded. I can't imagine any girl being your girlfriend!"

"Take that back," Darren roared, "and Debbie's not ugly!"

"Debbie?" I sniggered, "What sort of name is Debbie?"

"Maybe she's some preppy girl with chunky red hair, freckles and braces?" Evra snorted, and we laughed again.

"Debbie doesn't have red hair, and she's not preppy or ugly!" Darren shouted, "She's African American with chocolate colored wavy hair and toffee colored skin!"

"Ok, ok," Evra finally said when we ceased laughing, "we won't laugh about it any more. But hey, what on earth is she called?"

"I told you already, she's called Debbie Hemlock." Darren said, irritated.

"And…how did you meet?" I said, trying hard not to laugh, "I've never seen anyone fall in love with a person they've only met for a day!"

"She's known us since we came here," Darren snapped, obviously angry at the fact we made fun of his girlfriend. "She just greeted me on the streets, and like I just talked to her." I unsuccessfully tried to suppress a giggle, and then I stopped eyes wide as realization set in. I know who he's talking about!

"You don't mean that girl we've seen a lot who sits in that window?" I said, "That girl with long chocolate hair in waves around her face, this light brown skin, a narrow, pointy chin and large brown eyes and wears red mittens?"

"I don't know about the sitting in the window part, but the rest of it pretty much describes Debbie," Darren said, shrugging. So that's the girl Darren got googly eyed over. No, he can't have, he's only met her for a day! But then, I saw in Darren's eyes that clearly said 'I'm-in-love' expression. And I could feel it in my head.

"But you only knew her for a day!" I cried in exasperation, "You can't fall in love with someone in a day!"

"Sure you can, you fell in love with Jans didn't you?" Evra asked. I gave him a 'what-the-hell' look.

"I told you a million times that Jans is just a friend, and I could never date someone with purple hair and an earring!" I shouted to them. That was true, I never thought about loving Jans but the thought makes me want to puke. Marrying Jans Vladimir is kind of like marrying…I don't know, it just won't happen.

"What ever, I just…Mr. Crepsley, food is…" Darren started, and I looked back in time to see Mr. Crepsley walk out of his room. He nodded, grabbed some lasagna and left. He looked more awful than ever, with dark circles and lots of bags under his eyes. He also looked chalky, like he hadn't been drinking at all.

"What should I do, I never went on a date before!" Darren asked us, closing his eyes and falling on to the sofa.

"Me neither," I said, I never dated anyone before.

"Ditto, unless you can count my snake as a date," Evra said, shrugging.

"I don't even know what to do!" Darren cried.

"Just don't finish all the popcorn, belch in her face, sneeze in her face," I said, remembering the facts Lexi had told me. "Hold the door for her, let her leave first, give her the popcorn if there's only a bit left, and don't sit on her bed. It's…not good if you do."

"I'm not even going to her house," Darren snorted.

"Oh yes, she'll probably invite you over for dinner," I told him, "and you better accept or she'll get mad and dump you."

"And you should wait until she asks or motions to kiss her," Evra added. I still can't believe that he learned all the modern, teen ways just by listening to the crowd of each show. It's either he wasn't telling the truth or that he's a really good listener and learner.

"Have either of you kissed anyone before?" Darren asked, "I had never ever, not even to my mom," Darren's muffled voice came from beneath the pillow.

"I never did, not to anything," I said, shaking my head.

"Me neither, other than to my snake," Evra said, and I gave him a 'that's-effing-disgusting' look. I've heard of people kissing their parents, their dogs, even their cats, but their snake?

"You can practice on a plate or something," Evra offered, but Darren shook his head.

"It has to be a person, but I can't just go up to someone I don't know and kiss them! I just need something or someone to practice on, some one who knows that I have no meaning on them," Darren called out. "Hey, Evan, can I practice on you?" GROSS!

"You're so perverted, you freak," I snapped, leaping away form the sofa, "Why don't you practice on Evra then or maybe Mr. Crepsley when he's sleeping?"

"Don't be silly, but you do now that I have no feelings towards you!" Darren begged, but I threw a glass at him. No one was going to practice kissing on me ever as long as I live!

"Bad luck, Shan," Evra said, laughing, "You'll just have to tell Debbie that you're a sucky kisser!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Darren paced around the room that morning, and I knew that he had butterflies in his stomach. Not even the Simpson family or The Lord of the Rings could make him interested, and Evra wasn't helping either by calling out the time. True, I wasn't really helping either by teaching Darren slow dancing, or rather, offering to teach him. After a few turns we all agreed that Darren was a very bad dancer; he kept stepping on my foot and forgetting the steps and the fact that he shouldn't grab 'Debbie' 's hip but just hold her gently.

"I'll introduce her to you guys then," Darren said.

"But…I might scare her off," Evra said, indicating his scales.

"If she makes rude remarks or talks about you, then I'll just dump her," Darren vowed, "you're worth more than her." Evra smiled at that; I would too, if someone's willing to dump their boyfriend/girlfriend for me.

"How about me?" I asked.

"I'll still date her, and I'll help her make fun of you," Darren said, laughing nervously. I exchanged glances with Evra; Darren really wasn't acting like himself. After plain waiting for a long time, the mysterious Debbie Hemlock finally rang the doorbell.

"Open the door, remember?" I hissed at Darren and he went to the door clumsily. We heard a few conversations and later a girl's voice laughed, but I couldn't make out their conversation. Or rather, I didn't bother to try to listen at all.

"Debbie, these are my roommates Evra Von and he's my best friend, and that's Evangeline Cho but you should call her Evan unless you want your teeth knocked out. She's just…not exactly a friend, more like a little sister who argues constantly and is annoying and sarcastic." Darren was saying, leading the girl I saw in. She looked pretty, and didn't dress up at all.

"Evra's a snake boy," Darren continued, and I saw why: Evra had his back facing them.

"That's not nice!" Debbie exclaimed, and Darren went of to introduce Evra to her. She wasn't disgusted or freaked out by his appearance, and she actually asked a lot of questions and was warm towards him. She even laughed when Evra sucked his tongue up his nose! She seemed pretty normal, kind of like Lexi but less freaking happy. Not that being optimistic all the time is a bad thing.

"That must be Evang…Evan then," Debbie said, nodding towards me. There was no warmth in her voice, and I knew why. She must be thinking that Darren might decide that he likes me and dump her or that he liked me before.

"Yes, I'm Evan. And you must be the famous Debbie Hemlock, whom Darren here talks about oh so often," I said, with the slightest hint of a sneer. I don't want to be rude to Darren's girl, just to let her know that if she's going to be not nice, I won't exactly just smile and let her pass.

"Umm…I'll go change," Darren said nervously and locked his door even though he had already changed five times. Then, Debbie burst out laughing and I did too.

"I'm not usually like this," she managed out, "it's just that…that…"

"You thought Darren liked me," I finished, and she nodded. "No way, I could never love Darren Shan! I mean, he's just a friend, marrying him would be like marrying a brother!"

"We were so stupid," Debbie smirked, and we laughed again. Evra was standing in the corner, looking confused. I could feel that his thought was: Girls, what's going on in their minds? Finally, Darren came in and took Debbie away to their date. Although we had laughed, I could still feel tension between me and Debbie. Darren told us not to bother their little date, but I couldn't help myself. I just can't let Darren be alone with that Debbie! So, pulling on a pair of boots and a hoodie, I walked out the door to the living room.

"Hey, where are you going?" Evra asked.

"Just…out," I told him. I was going out, wasn't I?

"You're not going to spy on them, are you?" Evra asked, suspicious.

"Of course not!" I fibbed, and ran out before he could say another word. I stalked them until they got to the cinemas, careful to not look suspicious or get noticed by them. I had no plan on what to do, and didn't bring any money so I walked around the cinema until finally the movie, which I heard was a silly romance comedy, ended and Darren and Debbie walked out. Darren was also a half vampire, so his hearing is as good as mine so I had to keep a long way away from them. They walked past this dark alley, then into a then back into the city. So far, they hadn't done any romantic stuff other than holding hands for warmth. Humph, I bet that Debbie isn't as innocent as she looks! I trailed them back to what seemed to be Debbie's house, where (ha, point for me!) Debbie invited Darren for dinner and he agreed. Talking about dinner, I'm starved! There's no way I could continue, so I ran back to the hotel where Evra opened the door for me.

"Where'd you go?" he asked through a mouthful of rice that we had prepared early that morning.

"Just for a walk," I told him, and grabbed some food for myself. Icky, we had made the curry way too salty. I was in no mood to complain; I had stalked them and found that Debbie was innocent? Mind you, I was mad that I had let my prey escape! I took a quick shower, so that Darren wouldn't be suspicious when he saw me all sweaty. I plopped down on the couch next to Evra and switched the Simpson Family to some news.

"Hey, I was watching that!" Evra said indignantly, but I ignored him.

"People were acting weird today, I need some facts!" I told him, "Besides, I have a feeling that something is wrong!" I did feel some kind of weird presence in the air, a presence I only felt when I first met a vampire. It was mostly boring, crappy news, and I was about to agree to switch to the Adams family when some news caught my eye. Some people, teens in fact, had been killed and drained of blood! I paled and glanced at Evra. He was shocked too, because we only knew the thing that could do such a thing, killing a person by draining all their blood: a vampire! Then, the doorbell rang suddenly, making up jump.

"It's probably Darren," I said, shaking, and went to open the door. It was Darren, indeed.

"Why are you so pale? Where's Evra?" he asked, but I shushed him and took him to the couch then turned the T.V. volume loud. When the news was finished, we were all shaking in our shoes and pale.

"Guys, do you know who I'm thinking of?" I asked them. There's only one person who could have possibly done all those deeds. Someone who comes back in the day all tired, and then leaves right away in the night to some mysterious place, someone we knew well, or so we thought we did.

"Who?" Evra asked, although I'm sure he knew. He just doesn't want to believe it.

"_Mr. Crepsley_," we said in the same time, using the same dark tone.


	16. Chapter 15

Ok, about the last chapter, Evan doesn't have a crush on Darren or anything. She just felt wrong being alone with Evra in the house.

* * *

The plan was difficult and only had a little chance of working, a plan that I don't like one bit but as we only had that idea, was the plan we were going to bring out. That day, we only ate bread and water. A slight change in the wind could let Mr. Crepsley find us, and that is what we don't want to happen. I don't believe that he'll actually kill us, we're just kids and his apprentice, but with a vampire, who knows? We also supplied ourselves with walkie-talkies (I don't know if it's supposed to be cell phones or walkie-talkies, so I just put walkie-talkie) so that we could communicate in long distances. We had no choices other than do the plan and kill Mr. Crepsley, or do nothing and let all the people die. Of course, we can't just let innocent people die, so we had to choose the first plan. At least I already had a nice, proper funeral.

"I don't really like this plan," Evra muttered under his breath.

"Me neither," I told him, "There's a big chance that we'll fail." No, I mustn't be un-optimistic. We're in a grim situation; I should be optimistic, right? Yeah, but I couldn't feel optimistic at all. What if everything went wrong?

"Come," Darren whispered, and we followed him. Mr. Crepsley was a long way in front of us, and kept walking until he suddenly started running. We barely managed to catch up, but imagine if he flitted. We wouldn't have even caught up with his shadow! Mr. Crepsley kept turning around corners, and going in different directions, as if he doesn't know where he's going. Then, we saw him stare at a fat man wearing a white shirt. Other than that, I had no idea what he looked like because it was dark. Mr. Crepsley followed the fat man, but the man didn't seem to notice him. A thought occurred to me, what if Mr. Crepsley was stalking that man? I could tell that Darren had the same idea, and we picked up speed. Evra fought hard to catch up with us, and we had to wait for him a bit some times. Finally, they entered this big metal building. The smell hit me before I saw the building: the scent of dead animals and blood. We had arrived at a slaughter house. The fat man went in, and Mr. Crepsley followed. We waited at the door, until we were sure that they couldn't hear us at any length.

"I'm going in," Darren said, and started creeping in.

"Us too," Evra said, and we started going in.

"No," Darren said sharply, "only one goes in!"

"I should go, it was mostly my plan," Evra said, but Darren held him.

"No, I should go; I'm a lot stronger and faster than you." Darren said.

"_I_ should go," I disagreed, "I'm a lot smarter and craftier than you guys, I won't make fatal mistakes."

"I still think I should go, I understand the plan better and besides, my blood will make him sick."

"No, I should go."

"No, I should!"

"I'm going!" Darren snapped, "Evra, you're staying because you're slower and well, clumsier than me. Evan, you're staying because you're a girl." With that, he climbed into the door and I heard the slapping sound of his shoes against the wet, blood stained floor.

"Humph, vampires, sexist as always," I said. Why can't I go? Secretly, I was glad in a way so I won't exactly be killed. But, I still want some action!

"Do you think that he'll need help?" Evra asked. I shrugged.

"I have no idea, I guess we should just wait here and if I hear him scream, we'll run straight back to the hotel." I told him.

"Cool, simple and easy," Evra agreed, and returned in pacing in front of the door. What if Mr. Crepsley knew that we were spying on him and will kill us, or kill Darren? Or maybe Darren, being the stupid, air headed boy h e is, slipped on blood and impaled himself on a butcher's knife? Or maybe he accidentally killed himself with the dagger he keeps in his pocket? OH man, I'm so scared for some reason! The presence inside wasn't like any I've encountered before; it wasn't human, half human or vampire at all. Was it because of the animal blood was dulling my smelling senses, or is it because of the fact there's a new kind of creature I've never seen before? Then, we heard this crash, as if glass was being broken.

"Quick, hide!" I hissed to Evra, and we hid in the shadows. Moments passed, but nothing happened.

"I'll go check," I whispered, and stepped cautiously outside. There was no one there, and I peered in the door. It was dark, and I couldn't see or hear anyone other than the dripping of blood and my heart beat. It was beating twice as fast as normal, wait, make that very fast. It seemed as if it was two heartbeats…two heartbeats…what if, just perhaps, there was someone or some_thing_ behind me? I turned around, to face the fat man. In the moon light, I saw that he had red hair and eyes, and purple skin. I recalled Mr. Crepsley telling me about some purple skinned, red eyed people before I became a half vampire, but I never asked him about them.

"So, you're the one who's in league with the boy who freed me, huh?" he said, grasping me by the neck.

"If it was a normal grip, I could easily make him let go, but this grip was like iron, I couldn't do anything about it. That's weird; I couldn't remember anything being harder than a vampire. Wait, what if this purple skinned man was a vampire?

"You're a vampire?" I managed to ask.

"Not vampire, half vampire, I'm a vampaneze!" he sneered, and held me into the sky by my neck. I felt air gushing through my mouth, and my lungs tighten. I would run out of air soon and suffocate! I kicked at the man, but he only laughed as if they were nothing but feet made of cotton-filled pillows.

"Let me go!" I cried, wasting precious air.

"No, I don't think so, I'll bring you with me for a ransom!" he laughed, shaking his head. He sounded like a maniac for some reason.

"Let her go!" a voice shouted, and a glass bottle broke on the man's head. He seemed dazed for a few seconds, letting his grip go soft, but that was enough for me to get out of his grip.

"Evra, hurry!" I cried, pulling his scaly wrists, and we started to run, but the man was upon us again, and grabbed Evra around his waist.

"Evra!" I screamed, and punched at the man but he aimed a blow at the sight of my head, making me see stars.

"Evra!" I still managed to croak out, before falling on to the ground limply, my head blank…


	17. Chapter 16

"Evan, are you awake?" a voice called from far away. No, I don't want to wake up. I'm all comfy and warm, and the delicious scent of lavender in my nose. I can't wake up yet, I need a good sleep after all that creeping and stalking before…wait, where am I? I opened my eyes wide, and saw that I was back in the hotel, lying on my bead, and Darren was sitting on a wooden chair staring at me. I tried to say something, anything, but my mouth wouldn't respond; none of my body would response.

"Mr. Crepsley, she's awake!" Darren yelled, and Mr. Crepsley hurried into the room. "I think she wants to say something but she couldn't move."

"Give her a few minutes then she'll be able to move, or at least talk," Mr. Crepsley said stiffly. "Evan, if you're able to hear me then blink twice." Can I even blink my eyes? I tried, and succeeded. Great, the only part of my body that I can move freely is my eye lids. Mr. Crepsley sighed.

"I guess I better explain the vampaneze to you then." What are the vampaneze? Oh yeah, that fat man…he called himself a vampaneze, what ever that is. I don't know anything about them, other than the fact that he kidnapped Evra. We got to save him!

"Long ago, we were one clan, the vampires. We killed whomever we drank from, and because of that our skins got purple and our eyes red. After thousands of years, a part of the clan felt that it is no use to kill thee person we drank from, we can limit ourselves to getting just the bit of blood we need. But some others disagreed, they believed that drinking from a person without killing them is dishonorable, so they separated themselves from the clan and called themselves the vampaneze. OF course, they still take only the blood they need, and we generally get along well. But occasionally, some mad vampires or vampaneze comes on to the earth. The vampires, us, would kill the mad vampires, but the vampaneze does nothing about their mad members. Well, if a mad vampaneze is on the loose, he'll kill a lot and drink non stop, whether he needs it or not, but they usually die within a month or two. But, during that month or two, they could have done a city great damage." So, that fat man was a mad vampaneze? It certainly is comforting to know that some mad, purple skinned thing is going on a killing frenzy for two months. "And, that man that I was chasing is a mad vampaneze named Murlough, and he is killing people in this city. I wouldn't have minded, other than the fact I used to live here." Mr. Crepsley used to live here? I never wondered where he lived, I've always assumed that he's been moving around on earth. Hell, how stupid have I been? Of course Mr. Crepsley wasn't a vampire at birth, he must been a boy at some stage of his life, and this must be where he lived before.

"I had been tracking him for days, and I've finally tracked him to that slaughter house, and would have killed him other than the fact you guys decided to trail me, thinking that I was going to kill him and that I was the murderer of those people, and Darren caused the man to escape, and I doubt that we'll find him soon. And now, he's taken Evra." So, Mr. Crepsley wasn't the murderer after all. But it's not our fault, how on earth was I supposed to know that, if he's been sneaking out, well, not sneaking out, but going out every night and coming back all tired? No, the point right now is to save Evra and drive a stake through that mad man. What if I have to lie here the whole time they're saving Evra? No, it's partly my fault that Evra had gotten kidnapped; if I had been more careful as in hiding, Evra wouldn't have to save me, and if I had kicked the man hard enough then Evra could have been freed. Can I move at all? If I can't move, then I'm useless in anything.

"I…" I managed out. Hey, I can speak now! "I want to help rescue Evra."

"She spoke!" Darren exclaimed, chocked.

"Of course I can speak, you dimwit," I snapped. Now that I was free of the stammering procession, I'm free to act like my old self.

"I liked her better when she was unconscious," Darren uttered. Yeah, doesn't him, because now I'm free to punch him in the face!

"You can't move yet," Mr. Crepsley said stiffly.

"I still got to try, don't I," I said, irritated, and tried to wriggle my fingers. Yes, they did! Can I raise my arms then, and my legs? I raised them, and kicked them around. YES! I'm able to move my body now!

"Has she gone mad?" Darren whispered to Mr. Crepsley.

"No, she's just testing her limbs. But she's still not ready to walk yet."

"We'll see," I said, and swung myself into sitting position, then gingerly placed my foot onto the ground. There, I'm standing down, without support!

"See, I can walk," I told them.

"Standing is not the same as walking," Mr. Crepsley pointed out, and my smile fell. Leave it to old Crepsley to make things look bad! I took a step slowly, then another.

"I can walk, see?" I told them, "I can…" just as I was about to say that I can walk, I fell on to the ground knee first. "I'm ok, I just need some practice." I climbed to my feet again, and walked around in circles then back to my bed.

"She is…normal again," Darren remarked, but Mr. Crepsley shook his head.

"She's not able to run fast or jump high now, she's just the same as a human," Mr. Crepsley said, "but she'll get better in a few days with rest." Rest for a few days? I won't be able to save Evra, man, what if that Murlough is stripping him to pieces right as we're speaking now?

"No, I don't need rest!" I complained, "I'm fine, I can still walk and run and jump!" to prove that, I ran around the room and jumped around, but Mr. Crepsley still shook his head.

"You're fine as a human, but not as a half vampire. You're not fully back yet, you're not fast enough." No, I must rescue Evra!

"NO!" I shouted, "I'M GOING WITH YOU GUYS AND THAT'S FINAL!"

"Evan, please, you'll just slow us down! You'll help us by resting!" Darren pleaded, but I took none of it. They're just kicking me out because I'm a girl! If it was Darren getting hurt, they would still let him go!

"No, I DON'T NEED REST!" I yelled at him. "Evra got kidnapped because Murlough gripped me on the neck and Evra had to rescue me or I'll die, if I had died then Evra wouldn't have been kidnapped, so it's MY entire fault that he's kidnapped!"

"Mr. Crepsley, tell her that she can't go!" Darren begged, but Mr. Crepsley stared at him blankly.

"I cannot," he said in a flat voice, "She won't take in what I say, and neither will she do anything you say that goes against her wishes. We have no choice but to bring her into the plan."

"What plan?" I asked, I'm not going to just go into a plan I don't know. Look at the last plan we made.

"We're going to try to find Murlough, and then go into his lair, rescue Evra, and kill him." Darren said.

"Simple and easy, but there's a ninety nine percent chance that it'll go horribly wrong," I said, "That's such a great plan."

"YOU think of a plan then!" Darren yelled at me.

"Fine, but let's…visit Debbie first. What if Murlough, well, killed her already?" I said carelessly. I don't have anything against Debbie, but I don't exactly care about her anyway. Her life or death didn't matter much to me, in a reason. Wait, do I like Darren? Am I jealous that Darren likes her? NO, MUST GET THAT THOUGHT OUT OF MY STUPID HEAD! I'm not in love with Darren Shan, that arrogant, simple minded air-headed dimwit who ruined my life!

"We should go then," Darren said, face pale, and he ran out the door to Debbie's house.

"And…I have no idea what to do now," I concluded.

"Murlough must be hiding in one of the tunnels underground," Mr. Crepsley said thoughtfully, scratching his scar.

"Yeah, let's just go and search around every filthy tunnel for that mad man," I said sarcastically.

"That's exactly what we're going to do," Mr. Crepsley said, and went out the door. WHAT?! I was just joking! But there seemed to be no stopping them, so I followed him reluctantly. Mr. Crepsley led me to this hole in the ground, and he jumped down. I followed him, and landed in a puddle of filthy muddy water and who knows what else.

"This is gross," I said, disgusted. My super senses could smell all the disgusting trash and filthy air in this tunnel.

"Yes, but he's probably here," Mr. Crepsley said, went down a narrow, foul smelling tunnel. We turned around corners, and even went in circles, looking for some kind of clue for anything, but there was none other than decaying rat corpses. We looked everywhere in a range, and I was sure that we must have passed that same old pool of mud for over twenty times already until we finally left the tunnel.

"That is the most disgusting thing I've ever done," I grumbled, flicking something from my shirt, "I bet I smell like sewage under the sun even to the humans!"

"Just wash it out, it is not permanent," Mr. Crepsley snapped, and we went back into the hotel where we found Darren standing outside the door.

"Where'd you been…holy cow, you stink!" he shouted when he saw us.

"Don't ask," I snapped, "And don't you dare do anything. I'll tell you later when I had washed away this disgusting, foul smelling nauseous smell!" I really need a good shower now! Using a towel, I picked up some random clothes and went into the shower until I was certain that I don't stink anymore. I have no intentions of going underground again; I'm not going to be able to bear the stink! The stink wasn't the worst of it, the slimy liquid that coated the tunnel was all over me, even on my hair and under my nails, and I had to carefully scrub them under my nails and wash my hair four times to get the stickiness out of it. Finally, I think I do not so bad smell anymore. I couldn't even smell a thing, because of the lavender. Even though now I'm covered with the overwhelming scent of lavenders tat would certainly give me out a hundred meters away, I was glad that I don't smell disgusting anymore. I secretly think that the manager wanted to throw us out when he saw us tramping around in slime, dirtying his precious hotel!

"Yuck, you putted on so much lavender, I think I'm going to puke," was the first thing Darren said to me. "So, where did you go?"

"We went underground looking for our mad little friend," I told him, "and trust me, it's not somewhere you'd want to go after once. Not a trace of him. There wasn't even a drop of his blood or any scent of him at all! He chose his spot well; I couldn't smell a pile of dung there if I wasn't looking at it."

"I found him," Darren said, glancing over my head. I swiveled around to see Mr. Crepsley wrinkling his nose at the lavender scent. I was getting pretty choked up by it too; I'll just rinse it off later then.

"You found Murlough, where?" Mr. Crepsley asked. Where indeed?

"I was going from Debbie's house, and I saw him under this…sewage entrance." I groaned, now we have to go into sewage again! Why can't that Murlough hide in some sunny, Jamaica beach or at least near a ski resort in Switzerland? "He…I think he's after Debbie."

"That would be to our advantage then," Mr. Crepsley said, "we could use her as bait, and then kill Murlough before he does any harm."

"As long as Debbie doesn't get hurt," Darren pointed out, and Mr. Crepsley nodded. But, as they did not see, I could see a hole in this plan. A really big hole.

"But that way we can't find Evra," I pointed out, and they looked thoughtful. I knew that they had forgotten about Evra! "I have a plan; we can still use Debbie as bait, sort of. How about like you're going to Debbie's house for dinner on Christmas, then you put…sleeping pills in their drinks. After they're asleep, we hide them in the closets and you go down the tunnel and look for Murlough. He'll probably be expecting you, and he'll want to kill you but you got to convince him that he's not supposed to hurt a vampire, so he won't hurt you. But, if he still has Evra, he'll want to kill Evra instead so you got to offer him Debbie in exchange for Evra."

"That's outrageous!" Darren yelled, "I won't do that!"

"Shush, she's not done yet," Mr. Crepsley said, holding his hand out to block him.

"So, like, Mr. Crepsley would be hiding in Debbie's room when you're going down the tunnel, and at the meanwhile he'll tie a goat or something to Debbie's bed and pull the covers on so it'll look like its Debbie. Then, when Murlough comes, preferably with Darren, he'll pull the covers down and realize that it's not Debbie. That's when Mr. Crepsley comes out and kills him, while we block the window and the door to prevent him for escaping. If we kill him, we dispose of the body, clean up the room, and move the Hemlocks back into their bedrooms so it'll be like they went to sleep. Then, we leave the town and back to the Cirque." I concluded, telling them my great plan. See, I could make great plans when I want to, and if no boy's interrupting me.

"That's actually a good plan," Darren said, after thinking for a while.

"Yes, indeed. So, when are we going to do the plan?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

"On Christmas Eve, duh," I told them. Weren't they listening to the minor details?

"And that is…exactly how many days from now?" Darren asked.

"How long was I out?" I asked Darren, "I don't know the date."

"You've been out for…about two days," Darren said. Shoot, it was the twenty fourth already!

"Christmas Eve is tomorrow, didn't Debbie invite you over for dinner on Christmas when you went to her house after the…" I snapped, and then stopped cold. Oops, I had let the cat out of the bag; I wasn't supposed to tell Darren that I had been, well, spying on him.

"You were spying on us!" Darren said accusingly.

"I did not; I was just taking a walk and heard you guys talking in her house!" I replied, face red. God, why do I have to get red now?

"So Christmas day is tomorrow, and so is the plan. Now may I ask where we are supposed to find a goat?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

"I've already thought of that; the petting zoo at the park down fifth avenue," I told him, pointing at one of the streets.

"We're actually doing the plan?" Darren asked, shocked.

"Do you have a better plan?" Mr. Crepsley snapped and looked at the sky. Sun light was beginning to shine through. "I'm going to sleep now." With that, he went into his room again.

"I hope he hadn't killed Evra," Darren muttered softly.

"Don't talk that way!" I snapped at him, "It's not optimistic!" Holy, I'm starting to sound like my mother who believed in fang sway, what ever that is.

"So you're optimistic all of a sudden again, huh?" Darren asked, raising an eye brow.

"So what, I'm trying as hard as you are to save Evra!" I snapped at him "I know you're going to say something, just spit it out!"

"Well…let's just say that Mr. Crepsley told me it's not true but I…thought that you told Murlough to kidnap Evra just to save yourself," Darren said, looking at his shoes. What, giving Evra up to save my own skin? I would never do that! I could feel my temper rising, like hot boiling lava.

"Fine, then stay away from me! I'm that lunatic who betrays everyone, right?" I shrieked at him, "the traitor who always dies first in those sucky western movies!"

"Evan, I never said that…" Darren tried to say, but I blocked him out. I don't want to hear any sorry excuses!

"What ever, I'm going out!" I yelled, and slammed the door shut. There's only one person who could piss me off so much, and that person is Darren. So, it's my fault then, my fault that Evra Von was kidnapped and that we have no idea whether he's still alive or not! No, he must be alive. If he dies, should I take care of his snake as a token…NO! CAN'T THINK THAT WAY! That would be being really un-optimistic, and besides, Evra isn't dead yet, I shouldn't be making his will before he's dead for sure! I will kill myself before betraying a friend, and in this case, Evra is my friend! I can't constrain my tears this time if he dies, I can't just lose me like I lost Jans! I paced on the sidewalk covered with snow. Snow, I had not noticed it, even though I've been waiting for snow my whole life. Why am I not excited to see it now? Does being thirteen mean that you don't like snow anymore? Or is it the vampire blood in me? I have no idea, but scooping snow and making snow balls doesn't seem appealing to me any more. Without Evra, things seem so different, as if I was in a world without anyone, feeling like I was being blooded for the first time.

"Hey, funky dresser!" Some one greeted me from behind. I looked back, and saw Debbie.

"Oh, hey Debbie," I said carelessly. Hey, are you living your happiest day of your life? It might be your last, because we're using you as bait!

"Did you know that your shirt is inside out?" she asked, pointing at my shirt. Shoot, I hadn't looked carefully when I dressed.

"No, I wouldn't have noticed it if you didn't point it out!" I told her, faking a smile. "But hey, at least it looks good!" Debbie laughed at that.

"So, where's Darren? He said that Evra is sick, I hope he's better." She carried on.

"Darren is…actually, I don't really know, I didn't ask him, but Evra's getting better. He's almost good now!" I told her, forcing myself a cheery look. I feel like a sucky, fake, phony actress, but Debbie didn't seem to notice any wrong with me, she was glancing around, looking at all the snow and displays.

"So, what are you doing tonight?" she asked on.

"Just joining the Christmas party at the hotel as my uncles doesn't like Christmas," I told her.

"Your uncle?" Debbie asked, frowning.

"Yeah, Darren's dad. I'm Darren's cousin through marriage and divorce," I fibbed, telling her the lie we had made up to tell anyone who asks. "I bet Darren didn't tell you, he's pissed off by the simple fact that I'm related to him!" Debbie laughed again.

"Yeah, he says that you're very annoying, but I think you're okay!" she said, throwing snow into the air. "I love Christmas so much; it's all snow, fun and parties!"

"I like the snow too, but Evra doesn't. He falls asleep a lot!" I told her, "Because he's, well, you know, so he kind of hibernates during the winter."

"I can't imagine sleeping for months; I'd be bored with all my dreams!" Debbie exclaimed, "I've been meaning to say, do you think I should get the pink pair of boots or the blue ones? My mom's giving me a pair, and I don't know which one to choose! Pink means love, you know, but blue means water and water's nice. I really enjoy swimming, do you enjoy swimming? I could have made the swim team in my old school, but then I transferred, so I couldn't, and they don't have one here. Which school do you go to, anyways? Darren never told me, he always switched the subject." Just when I was getting to think that this girl is kind of okay, now I know why I despite her before and I still do now. She talks way too much; even Lexi would fall behind her! I chose not to reply, but she didn't care. She just kept on talking faster and faster.

"Now I have to go, bye Evan," she called, waving at me, then bouncing up the steps to this apartment.


	18. Chapter 17

Finally, it was dark. I sprinted to our apartment, where Darren was waking Mr. Crepsley.

"Its night," I announced, and pulled on a pair of waterproof boots that I bought for tonight.

"What's your part in this plan?" Darren asked suddenly, "I don't remember that we've talked about your plan."

"I'm going with you," I told him.

"You're not, you'll only mess things up," Darren protested, but I held firm.

"It's my plan, and I'm going," I told him.

"Mr. Crepsley, make her see sense again," Darren said.

"H is right, Evan, you should stay here," Mr. Crepsley said.

"No, it's my plan. Besides, I have an important part," I told him, and so he sighed and let me go reluctantly.

"You better not mess things up," Darren warned. Gee, how can he be so dumb? This is my plan; I should be the last person to make a mistake!

"Yes, sir," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Come, you guys," Mr. Crepsley said, and we followed him into the darkness. Darren went to Debbie's house, and we waited outside, and we heard laughter coming out. After a while, when my leg was starting to fall asleep, Darren poked his head out.

"They're asleep," he whispered, and we went in. The Hemlocks were sleeping on their dining table, thankfully, not on their plates, with lots of food on the table. My mouth watered at the sight of the roasted chicken, puddings, pies and jello, and I longed to just have a taste but we had Evra to rescue so I carried Mrs. Hemlock to her bed where I tucked the covers up to her chin and removed her jewelry to the dresser next to her table.

"Done?" Darren whispered from the doorway.

"Yeah," I whispered, and we tiptoed out of the house. Now the Hemlocks look like they're asleep.

"Ready to rescue Evra?" I asked him.

"Yes, of course," Darren said, and we ran to the sewage gate, pried the lid open, and jumped down.

"Are you sure where we're going?" I whispered softly.

"Yes," Darren said, "actually, no…" I stifled a sigh and slid next to Darren and we softly went down the tunnel.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered.

"Hear what?" I asked.

"Your senses are…" Darren started to say, but then he suddenly fell on to the floor.

"Darren, oh shoot!" I whispered, then I saw stars in my eyes and I fainted.

"You're awake?" Darren asked.

"What…duh…" I mumbled. We are tied like smoked hams from the ceiling, and we are wrapped up in ropes hanging upside down so I could do nothing other than swing around. Darren was tied next to me; while on my other side was…Evra. He was alive, but I saw that there were some scales sliced off his left shoulder and he was bleeding slightly.

"Why did you come here?" He moaned.

"Evra, you're alive!" I whispered. Good, that Murlough didn't kill him. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM, YOU FREAK?" Hunched in front of the fire that was a few feet from us sat Murlough, sharpening a knife that, I winced, had a few green scales stuck to it.

"Evan, don't do that, he'll kill you!" Darren hissed, trying to move.

"That's right, listen to your friend, Evan," Murlough sneered, "I tried to get that reptile to tell me where Crepsley lived, but he wouldn't say a think not even when I sliced his scales off! And now both of you had turned up for me, oh this is wonderful, and at Christmas! Perhaps the girly would be easier to break then snake boy?" Gah, what's wrong with those bloodsuckers? They're all sexists!

"Why do you hate him so much then?" Darren asked boldly.

"None of your business," Murlough drawled, "maybe if I kill you, your girlfriend would spit out the address?"

"Fat chance," I snorted, "I wouldn't care less if you kill him,"

"Then maybe the reptile?" Furlough's sly voice came near me. Oh god no, I hate this technique he's using!

"Will you break like a twig once I roast him? I'll be having roast snake instead of chicken for my Christmas meal today."

"You wouldn't dare," I said, but not even I convinced myself. This vampaneze killed hundreds of other people; of course he wouldn't mind killing one more! "Snake blood will make you sick!"

"Oh really, but I'm about to die anyways, what difference will it make?" Murlough was close now, and he dragged a single broken nail across my cheek. "You would be good to eat…" I attempted biting his finger off, but couldn't.

"See if I care," I hissed, "I won't tell you anything!"

"Alright then," Murlough said, as he drawled his knife and walked over to Evra. He raised his knife, and merely scraped off another scale, making Evra yell.

"STOP THAT!" Darren yelled, but it only made Murlough slice off another scale. Argh, I would rather that he cut pieces off me than listen to Evra scream in pain; the unearthly sound fills me with horror while goose bumps rise on my arms!

"You…" I shrieked, and swore horribly at him. Murlough stopped cold and slapped my hard on the cheeks. The blow stung, but it made me feel better for some reason.

"You should learn to wash your mouth, girl," Murlough said silkily as he slapped me again.

"You're pathetic," I spat, despite the situation I'm in, "do you call that a hit? You slap worse than a human girl!"

"Fool!" He yelled as he slapped me again. My cheeks burned with pain, but at least he's not hurting the others.

"You'll NEVER get anything out from me!" I sniggered, "you'll never get ANYTHING out of any of us!"

"Evan, stop that, he'll kill you!" Darren yelled.

"That's right, I'll kill you!" Murlough screamed, but he had no attempts to kill me.

"Kill me then," I challenged him, "You don't dare, and you're as pathetic as a stink worm and as weak as a baby! You're an embarrassment to the vampaneze!" That did it, he grabbed me by the hair, which hurt horribly, and pulled me still.

"I'll kill you," Murlough vowed, "but I'll make you feel pain first!" He raised his knife, and I quickly closed my eyes as he drew his knife. I had no idea what happened, but I felt my face burn like hell and I was full of agony as I opened my eyes and a curtain of blood splattered in to my eye.

"Now I kill you!" Murlough laughed as he raised his knife for the final move.

"You won't kill a half vampire, will you?" I asked him slyly. "Depending to the rules, a vampaneze, well, vampaneze and vampires are not supposed to kill each other, and if you kill me, vampire generals will come and kill you!" Murlough's knife froze in midair.

"Then it doesn't matter if I…" he started.

"Darren's a half vampire too," I laughed, despite the pain it caused every time I moved my mouth.

"If you kill us, then you'll start a war between the vampires and the vampaneze, will you want that?" Darren hissed, "You'll die of course!" Murlough released me, causing me to swing back and forth. Gross, I'm feeling dizzy now! The blood slid down my face, and some went into my nose, making me choke.

"But I can still kill this reptile," Murlough said thoughtfully, he's not one of you, I'm free to kill him!"

"No you can't, we'll…we'll…" Darren stammered, but there's nothing he could do. There were no rules saying that you can't kill snake boys.

"There's nothing you can do," Murlough laughed, regaining his confidence, "I'll still have roast snake for Christmas dinner!"

"You can't!" Darren shouted, which made Murlough laugh more.

"Oh yes I can, he's nothing to me!" Murlough sneered as he reached for Evra.

"Please, don't…" Darren begged. You had to give it to him; he really was a good actor. For a boy, that is.

"Wait!" Darren suddenly said.

"Now what?" Murlough sneered, "Will you give me Crepsley?"

"No…I give you…Debbie."

"No, No!" Evra yelled, trying to break free from his ropes.

"Silence!" Murlough snarled, as he punched him, causing him to fall silent. He swung by, and I saw that he had fainted.

"YOU CREEP!" I yelled, even though my mouth hurt more.

"You, be silent too!" Murlough said, and I saw stars once again. I had no idea how long I was out, because once I woke, I was in Darren's arms…wait that sounds horribly WRONG! Ok, rewind, I found Darren carrying me.

"Is Murlough dead?" I asked him, my mouth didn't hurt as much now.

"Yes…Mr. Crepsley killed him." Darren said, after pausing.

"Good, now please let me go as I can walk by myself," I told him, and he put me down. "Why is my left eye blurry for some reason? I can't really see well…"

"Evan, you're awake," Mr. Crepsley said, he was carrying Evra.

"Yeah…is there something wrong with my eye? I can't see well." I asked.

"You'll have to see for yourself," Darren said, "But Mr. Crepsley could probably fix it." Oh well, as long as it doesn't turn into a lazy eye, I'd be fine. We went back to our apartment where Mr. Crepsley patched Evra up for a long time. I wanted to take a shower but he said to wait, so I stood there covered in blood and sewer water.

"Ok, he's fine now. All he needs is a good rest," Mr. Crepsley said, then gestured me forward.

"My plan worked well, other than the fact Evra got hurt," I said, "The Hemlocks didn't wake, right?"

"No, they did not," Mr. Crepsley agreed, "but you have a serious cut there."

"Where?" I ask. Mr. Crepsley didn't reply, but licked his finger and traced down my cheek.

"Ouch, that stings!" I yelped, "It burns!"

"Of course it does," Mr. Crepsley snorted, and I went to take a shower. It must have healed into a scar already, because water didn't hurt my face anymore. I could feel a rough line, but I had no idea how I looked. I dried myself and pulled on traveling clothes, then looked into the mirror. I was calmer than I expected. There was a long, narrow scar going from slightly above my eyebrow, across my eye lid, and almost to my jaw line. Thankfully, it was a lot narrower after my cheekbones, so the only visible part was until my cheek bone. I walked out and packed my bag.

"Wow, that's some scar," Darren said, whistling.

"I hope it goes away, I wouldn't like it if it stays so long," I told him.

"It won't," Mr. Crepsley said from the doorway, "the narrower lines might, but the one above your cheekbone would never go away."

"So much for luck," I sighed, but didn't complain. There's got to be some mistakes in the plan, at least no one died or got kidnapped, right?

"Ready to go back to the Cirque?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

"You bet, I'm getting tired of this city for some reason, it's just…too small," I said, and flipped my bag over my shoulders. "Can we go by plane for once?" Mr. Crepsley laughed.

"No, we're going by subway this time, I heard that it's a lot faster than trains."

"Cool…I bet that we're the first half vampires to ride the subway," Darren exclaimed.

"Yes, because you two are the only half vampires of this generation," Mr. Crepsley said.

"Oh well…let's go, I don't exactly fancy standing," I told them, and we went to get Evra.


	19. Chapter 18

"Vampire Mountain…where on earth is that?" I asked, yawning, as Darren told me the new news. It had been five years since our little trip to Mr. Crepsley's hometown where we met a crazy vampaneze called Murlough. It was there that I got my painful souvenir, the scar that stretched from above my eyebrow to my cheekbone. It reached almost to my jaw line once, but gradually it disappeared.

"Where's that so-called Vampire Mountain?" I asked.

"I don't know, just get dressed and pack," Darren told me. Even after five years, he still looked pretty much the same. For some reason, I look older than him, as if I'm almost fifteen. Mr. Crepsley said that it was because I already looked older when I became a half vampire, but we both know that he doesn't know why either. I walked out barefooted and bumped into my old friend Evra, who gave me a plate of breakfast. Even though we were once very good friends, Evra still ages at human rate and now looks older than us and it had been a bit difficult for him to treat us as level. Sure, he was still a friend to both of us, but lately he has gained interest in people his age, especially woman! We used to bunk with him and shared chores, but now I share with Darren, to my disgust, and we share our chores with the children of other members.

"I heard that you're leaving," Evra commented. "Need help packing?"

"I don't know, I don't even know where that Vampire Mountain is," I told him, "so I guess I'll just try to take what fits everywhere."

"Smart choice," Evra said, "but you were always smart, especially when you thought of the plan that rescued me from Murlough." When we me Murlough, he had kidnapped Evra, and I came up with a plan to 'rescue' him.

"Hey, Evra," Darren said, waving a hand at him.

"What, no greetings for me?" I said sarcastically. Even though we were both almost eighteen, we still had rivalry between us as always.

"You don't exist, as far as I know. Girls are not fit to be vampires," Darren sneered. Man, he really reminds me of Draco Malfoy sometimes, other than the fact he's ugly AND mean! Even when he's almost an adult, he is still very sexist.

"What ever, what do you think we need to bring?" I asked him. "I thought of jackets, they could keep us warm and we can tie them around our waists so that they don't take up any space."

"Yeah, that's such an awesome plan," Darren said sarcastically, "let's just all tie jackets around our waists and walk around!" My eyes burned with anger, something I still can't control.

"Then YOU think of something," I told him, "You can't manage at all if you don't have anyone waiting on you hands and feet!" I snapped. It was true, without friends, Darren can't survive.

"Fine, that's a good idea, but what else?" Darren asked, rolling his eyes.

"I had thought that being seventeen would make you more mature than you look, but apparently, a fourteen year old is more mature than you!" I told him, which shut him up immediately.

"Ok, ok, then…should we bring life vests?" Darren asked. Talk about stupid questions! Oh well, I had no idea that we might need it, right? I don't foretell other people's destinies; of course I wouldn't know that a certain Darren Shan might need a life vest, right?

"Yeah, Vampire Mountain is certainly underwater," I snorted, "Get real; it's Vampire MOUNTAIN, not Vampire Island or what ever!"

"It might…I mean, we might need to get past a rushing river or a lake, right?" Darren asked.

"Hello, we're not exactly going on to some kind of adventure, are we? They won't try to kill their visitors, or place a rushing river in front of them!" I told him, "I suggest that we're probably just going there for a change or something. Sure, it's not a resort, but they're not going to try to kill us on our way, are they?"

"I don't know, Vampires, at least some of them, I believe are…savaged." Evra mumbled.

"Ok…" Darren said, raising an eyebrow, "but I still…never mind, how about gloves?"

"Gloves…its summer," I said, puzzled.

"Well, the vampires aren't really going to make their home in some sunny Caribbean island, are they?" Darren said, and we laughed at the thought of Mr. Crepsley dressed in swimming shorts, sipping a cool glass of blood and getting a tan on the beach.

"How about some ropes? Ropes would be handy," Evra suggested after we clam down.

"Oh yes, because the vampires are an adventurous bunch, aren't they?" a voice said by the opening of our tent: a man wearing yellow Wellington boots and this raincoat thing. He had a rosy face with a little white moustache, and was wearing a brown bowler hat w, and carrying a walking stick. He was short and round and he also had this heart shaped watch. For some reason, Evra looked terrified while Darren looked freaked out. What the heck's wrong with them, it's just a…unusual old man wearing wellies! Unless they're secretly afraid of wellies for some reason?

"Uh…may we help you? If you're looking for the ring master, he's in the largest van in front…" I told him.

"I do not need any help," the tiny man said. He had a weird accent that I couldn't quite place. Perhaps he's some traveler, or maybe from Russia, where you learn all kinds of languages? "Please tell Larten that I'll see him in Hibernius' van." With that, he walked away so fast that he looked like he disappeared. I blinked, only vampires or Mr. Tall could do that, maybe that tiny man was a vampire? It was afternoon; Mr. Crepsley wouldn't like it if we wake him up at this time of the day!

"Why are you two so scared of that tiny man?" I asked them, "or are you guys secretly afraid of those yellow wellies??"

"That was Mr. T…tiny!" Evra sputtered.

"Ha-ha, really funny," I said, rolling my eyes. Wait, they did tell me about a certain Mr. Tiny years ago…can this be the mysterious Mr. Tiny? "Fine, he is this mysterious Mr. Tiny, but why are you so scared of him?"

"His real name is…D…Desmond Tiny, and if you call…him…his…his…nickname, you get…destiny!" Darren stammered lips tight.

"Ok, then his name is destiny, what's the big deal? I asked, "It's really not so funny or scary, is it?"

"It's not…he controls those little people, and I heard that he can meddle with time…sending things from the past or the future into the present," Evra whispered, "he's some sort of magician thing, he knows what you're thinking!"

"And he eats children for breakfast!" Darren said softly, "and he…death makes him happy! He would erupt a volcano and kill hundreds of people to keep his feet warm; a war would be a great movie to him!"

"Ok…that's…interesting," I said. They're either lying or this Desmond Tiny is a really good actor, right? No one could possibly eat children or start volcanoes, it's not possible! If he really does…well, he couldn't possibly have anything to do with me directly, right? Jeez, I was so very wrong! Like I thought, Mr. Crepsley was in a very grumpy mood when we woke him up, but when Darren mentioned Mr. Tiny, he got up immediately and pulled on his red cape.

"What's the matter with you guys and a certain Desmond Tiny?" I grumbled as I handed him his finest cloak.

"Desmond Tiny is a time traveler with the abilities to foretell future, and he is capable of doing things that you can't imagine a normal person doing," was the only thing I got out of Mr. Crepsley about the mysterious Mr. Tiny. We went to Mr. Tall's van, where Mr. Tiny was sitting behind a desk and emptying his wellies. I saw that he did not have toes, but six cat-like claws! That kind of shook me, but hey, I know pretty many unusual people so it didn't freak me out as much as it had freaked out, well, let's just say that it didn't freak me out after the shock worn off.

"Please, take a seat," Mr. Tiny said, but all three of them shook their head politely and stood as far as they can from the desk. What's wrong with these people?

"Sure…thanks," I said, as I took a seat in the comfy plush seat furthest from him. "Sorry, but I still have no idea why they're…afraid of you, and I'm even sorrier if I'm supposed to act afraid because right now I have no reason to be afraid of you." Mr. Crepsley, Darren…oh, basically everyone gasped.

"I know…I know everything about you, even things you don't know about yourself, I know many things about you that you don't know," Mr. Tiny said. Long ago, that would have frightened me, but Mr. Tall had had that effect on me ages ago so I wasn't exactly scared by that fact. "And I know that you're a half vampire, and I know that you have no idea why your friends and mentor is frightened of this little man who calls himself Mr. Tiny."

"Yeah…that's about it," I said.

"Do you like drinking blood, Evan?" Mr. Tiny asked, peering at me from behind his ugly bottle cap spectacles, "Mr. Shan doesn't enjoy feeding very much, does he?"

"I guess I never gave much thought about it…" I told him truthfully, "it's like water, I can't say how much I like it, and I just need it for without it I'll die."

"I enjoy blood very much, especially the blood of an infant," Mr. Tiny said in his soft voice. Ok…this man liked to drink from infants, which would probably kill them. Nope, sorry, still not afraid. Lots of people killed for their pleasure, I've seen a lot of these people, including a Mr. Murlough and his long lost cousin the wolf man. "We must talk fast, a volcano is exploding soon and everyone with in a ten mile radius has no chance of surviving. It would e great fun to watch it."

"To watch a volcano explode?" I asked. That sounds terribly boring to me…

"No, to watch the people run for their lives, to watch them kill each other in a stampeded while getting boiled by all the lava," Mr. Tiny drawled. I felt chilled; this man delights in watching people die helplessly? Even Murlough only watched people die because either he hates them or he wants their blood! He must not be human…everything Darren and Evra said were true! "Yes, everything Darren and Evra said were true."

"I see…" I said. I could sense a different aura coming off this person, or what ever he is. And, his aura wasn't one of a human, vampire or a vampaneze. He was of some race that was created especially for him. Surprisingly, the aura coming off Mr. Tall was slightly similar to the ones coming off from Mr. Tiny. Was there just the smallest chance that they're related to each other?

"I heard that you guys are going to Vampire Mountain," Mr. Tiny said casually, as if we're discussing the weather.

"Yes we are, right now," Mr. Crepsley said.

"A dangerous journey, never less, but I suppose that it would be easier for vampires?" Mr. Tiny said in his freaky voice, "I'll be sending these two to guide you." He waved a stubby hand, and I saw two little people standing at the doorway.

"That wouldn't be necessary, we can manage on our own," Mr. Crepsley said hurriedly, "they'll only get in the way."

"Get in the way?" Mr. Tiny asked, raising a white eyebrow that looked like a caterpillar, "the little people survive to help, not get in the way."

"But…" Mr. Crepsley started.

"This is not an offer, Larten," Mr. Tiny continued, "It is a command."

"I…very well," Mr. Crepsley said, although he looked pink in the face.

"You may go now," Mr. Tiny said, and we walked out the door, including Mr. Tall.

"One word, Evan," Mr. Tall said, and pulled me aside.

"Yes?" I asked cautiously.

"Evan, I know that…" he started.

"You're…Mr. Tiny is sort of connected to you in a way, right?" I asked. He looked at me for a long time, I could almost swear that a blade of grass grew then died.

"Yes, he is. But the thing I'm trying to tell you is that I have look into the future and I could slightly see your future, and although it's not clear, I saw…things. There are things you must know, for Larten will not tell you them. Mr. Tiny has created the hall of princes with certain…and he's able to destroy the vampires if he wants to. He also gave the vampires the stone of blood, which helps the vampires trace other vampires, while he gave the vampaneze another gift: a coffin that would determine who would be the lord of the vampaneze. The lord of the vampaneze would have the power to command all the vampaneze, and he would start war against the vampires. Whichever clan that wins will rise to be the lord of the shadows, which is destined to destroy earth into a waste land where the surviving people serves under that certain lord." Ok…freaky…

"Ok…that's pretty interesting…" I said as I turned to walk away, "Mr. Tall, what is your…connection to Mr. Tiny?" Oops, I shouldn't have asked that. Mr. Tall didn't say anything for an even longer time, so I decided that I should be going when he spoke.

"He is…my father," he said quietly, making my heart skip a beat as I ran back to our tent. Mr. Tall is Mr. Tiny's son? That explains the whole aura thing and how they could both look into the future.

"Hey, why are you all pale?" Evra laughed as I ran back. I shook my head; I have a feeling that Mr. Tall wouldn't like it if I go around talking about his family tree.

"I wish that you can come, Evra," Darren said as he pulled his back pack on to his back Evra laughed again.

"Well, I'd probably sleep 'til spring, from what I saw Mr. Crepsley in, Vampire Mountain looks very cold." I know why now too, Mr. Crepsley was dressed in rough trousers and a wool sweatshirt. IT must not be in somewhere hot then…

"Well, we'll certainly miss you," I said as I pulled my black bag on, "I'm, well, leaving most of my stuff here. If you can, well, just keep them safe, ok?? I don't know if I'll, well ever come back, but I want you to have them anyways."

"Why…what's the matter?" Evra asked. Oops, too much information!

"Just…Mr. Tall had a talk with me," I said, and they seemed to understand.

"Don't worry, your stuff are safe with me," Evra vowed and I smiled. Evra always keeps his promises.

"Hurry, Evan," Darren said, and we ran to Mr. Crepsley.

"No stuff," Mr. Crepsley said, pointing to our backpacks.

"What, we're going to stay in the same outfit?" Darren gasped.

"Just to Vampire's…headquarters," Mr. Crepsley said. I exchanged a glance with Darren; I think the journey to Vampire Mountain would be really rough!

"Hey, I just caught up with you guys!" Evra shouted, and we turn around. "I came as fast as I can, but I can't stay for long!" he gave Darren a big 'snake' hug, and then gave me a polite and formal hand shake.

"For goodness sake," I said, rolling my eyes, and gave him a 'vampire' hug.

"Bye, I'll miss you, and you!" Evra called as he ran back to his tent.

"BYE!" we yelled back.

"Now, may I ask, ARE you ready to go?" Mr. Crepsley asked.

"Yeah…I think…" I said, and we walked for a while until Mr. Crepsley stopped again.

"Now what?" Darren asked.

"No shoes and socks," Mr. Crepsley said plainly.

"WHAT?!" I shrieked, "what the heck…it'll grind my feet to pieces!"

"You're sole with thicken quickly, vampires adjust to anywhere," Mr. Crepsley said flatly.

"Not to a sunny Caribbean beach," I muttered, and Darren laughed as we took off our shoes and socks.

"So basically, this certain journey is where you go with only one pair of outfit, no equipment, and no footwear at all, am I correct?" I asked in a bored voice, "and there will probably be bushes with thorns, jagged rocks and swamps that we have to go through.

"There are no swamps on Vampire Mountain," Mr. Crepsley said, as if it cleared things up. Oh, it's just plain great!


	20. Chapter 19

"I'm tired…can we rest at least?" I groaned. We had been climbing for the whole day over jagged rocks. I have no idea how many days we've been on Vampire Mountain, but for me I think we've been here for at least more than a month already. Every night, we climbed over rocks and rested in small caves. Sometimes, we just slept under a shade, where wild animals could come and kill us!

"Not yet, it is not near dawn yet," Mr. Crepsley snapped as we struggled to hold on to the sharp edges. The first few days, my hands, feet, arms and legs were bleeding after scraping them from all those rocks, but now my limbs were no longer soft; all those rubbing and bleeding have made them tough and hard, and all the baby fat I had were quickly rubbed off.

"It's very tiring to be in the same clothes everyday, you know," I told him, pausing only to scratch the scar that ran down my eye to my cheekbones. Beads of sweat make it especially itchy.

"It is rules that you can't bring anything to Vampire Mountain," Mr. Crepsley barked. Fortunately, we finally came to the top of that rock and to the entrance of a large cave where Mr. Crepsley told us that we would be spending the day in.

"Scared of the dark, huh, Evan?" Darren smiled.

"You think," I snorted, even though I was scared of the dark when I was a human, I've grown to love it. Who ever heard of a vampire that's afraid of the dark? But, how ever much I lived with her, I still could not stop fearing spiders, especially my mentor's pet Madam Octa. We walked into the cave, where we saw some broken coffins and a pile of blood on the floor.

"What the…?" I gasped softly.

"Get out of the cave now," Mr. Crepsley ordered urgently, until suddenly a knife appeared around Darren's neck! I didn't know what happened, for it was all a blur since I was studying the blood. Then, Mr. Crepsley was barking at this fat man with short brown hair, lots of scars and dressed in the same style of traveling clothes Mr. Crepsley wore.

"Gavner Purl!" Darren shouted, and went to shake the man's hand. Gavner Purl? Darren mentioned him years ago, and that he was some kind of Vampire General, what ever that is.

"And you must be Evan," Gavner said, shaking my hand.

"What's a Vampire General?" I asked at once.

"They, well, they patrol the world looking for mad vampires and keeping disciple," Gavner said, smiling. "I'm surprised that you didn't know, Larten was a general, and he would have been…"

"Gavner!" Mr. Crepsley said sharply.

"What, Darren already knows," Gavner said, un-aware of the poisonous look Mr. Crepsley was giving him. "Larten was a great Vampire General, and he was going to be a Vampire Prince until he resigned!"

"A…Vampire PRINCE?" I asked, and then laughed at the thought of Mr. Crepsley wearing a red fur robe with a golden crown on his short patch of orange hair, carrying a scepter and prancing around sitting on a throne with people bowing over him.

"No, not that kind of prince, a Vampire Prince is a much respected person who rules the vampire clan with the other vampire princes," Gavner explained.

"Oh…was there ever a Vampire princess?" I asked.

"Well…no," Gavner said, kind of uneasily.

"Oh well…vampires, sexists as usual," I said, "but I don't exactly want to be a vampire princess anyways, I can't imagine myself ruling anything, the clan would probably fall from my rule."

"Too right," Darren laughed.

"Gavner, do you know about…that?" Mr. Crepsley asked, pointing at the blood and broken coffins. Gavner paled.

"No, I only came in here when I saw you….holy, what did that?"

"Was it a bear?" Darren asked.

"No, it couldn't have been, it couldn't have just messed up the coffins and nothing else, right?'

Gavner asked. Mr. Crepsley nodded.

"Well, what ever it is, I don't fancy spending a night here," I told them, and we walked outside and climbed until we reached a new cave. We spent the day in there, although how long exactly I don't know because I was so tired that I fell asleep as soon as I hit the ground. It was all dreamless sleep; I hardly ever get dreams now. It's good too, because for some reason my dreams connect to real life in a way. Like, if I dream about surfing or something, it's probably going to rain or something like that.

The little people never sleep for some reason, they just shuffle around in silent (of course, they can't talk) and they finding food and scouting for danger. I have no idea how they'll tell us that there is danger if they can't speak, I think they DO speak when they need to. But, all the same, I don't exactly trust them; especially if Mr. Tiny 'made' them from some sort of weird substance. I don't trust people who eat foxes, rabbits and badgers; unless you're an animal, that is. I'm not sure what a little people is, but I know for certain that they're not human!

"Darren, Evan, come over," Gavner shouted from outside. I yawned and stretched; the night's sleep seemed so short, as if I've only just lain down. But once I'm under the moon, I felt wide awake again. The moon's the source of power, without it I'd be nothing but human. We ran to find Mr. Crepsley and Gavner standing beside a patch of thorny bushes.

"Hell no, we're not going to climb through them, are we?" I groaned, if we're going to, my clothes will be ripped to pieces! It's a good thing I decided to wear my thick jeans, or it would have been ripped to pieces earlier like Darren's stretch pants; they've been ripped to shorts!

"We will not, at least not now," Mr. Crepsley said, and he pointed at a jagged piece of fabric on some thorns. Then did I notice that the thorns were covered in dark red blood! I bent down and sniffed it, careful not to scratch my nose. A strange, tingly feeling filled me.

"I know that scent some where…" I told them, "I just can't quite place it; you know that my sense of smell is terrible." Darren sniffed it too.

"I can't quite place it either…" He frowned.

"It reminds me of something I hate for some reason…" I said. Could it possibly be the blood of…just maybe…of Murlough?

"Think back five years," Mr. Crepsley said grimly.

"Murlough is not dead?" I asked. Darren laughed.

"Of course he is, you dim wit!" he snickered.

"It's the blood of a vampaneze then," I snapped. "But it doesn't especially smell…wait, it DOES smell mad for some reason…" I said, paling. A mad vampaneze would die soon, but while it lives, it could destroy a city! If an animal drinks a vampaneze blood, it would make it mad too.

"It's a mad vampaneze on the loose, but what is a vampaneze doing on Vampire Mountain?" I asked, "I thought Vampire Mountain was vampire property."

"It is," Mr. Crepsley nodded, "Unless…Gavner, did you hear any news about the Lord of the Vampaneze?"

"No, but as far as I know, they haven't found him yet," Gavner said, and Mr. Crepsley seemed to calm down a tiny bit.

"Who's this Lord of the Vampaneze?" Darren asked. I wondered too; Mr. Tall hadn't told me what a Lord of the Vampaneze is. I only know that there'll be this fight between the vampires and the vampaneze, and the side that wins will be some kind of lord of the shadows, destined to turn this place into a wasteland.

"Mr. Tiny…" Gavner began, but Mr. Crepsley s\hushed him. "Why, Larten, they're old enough to know!"

"They're only eighteen," Mr. Crepsley hissed, "they're too young!"

"Yeah, eighteen is so-oo young, I'm still in elementary school," Darren said sarcastically, "puh-lease, and we're old enough to know everything!" Finally, Mr. Crepsley sighed and nodded.

"Long ago, Mr. Tiny gave the vampaneze this…coffin. It looks like a regular coffin, but when someone lies in it and puts the cover on, flames will appear." Gavner said. Wait, if flames appear, don't the people inside get burned to death? "Usually, the person gets burned to death. But one day, a person would come, an un-blooded person, and lie in it but the flames would not hurt him, and he would be the Lord of the Vampaneze, destined to start war between the vampires and the vampaneze. As far as we know, no one's been able to live after being in the coffin of fire, so there's no war yet. But there are lots of mad vampaneze lately and we think…"

"Gavner, that's enough!" Mr. Crepsley barked, and Gavner stopped.

"Why, what do you guys think?" Darren asked curiously.

"You don't need to know that, there's no proof," Mr. Crepsley snarled, "you know more than you need to know already, now, we're going to move on."

"Not through those thorns, my clothes will rip!" I moaned, but he ignored me.

"I suggest that you take off your clothes if you don't want to get them ripped to pieces," Gavner suggested.

"HELL NO!" me and Darren shouted, so the Vampires took off their clothes, and we marched through the thorns with me in front so that I wouldn't have to…oh, you get what I mean, don't you? The thorn bushes were really hard to get through, especially if you have to pry them away with your fingers. Finally, I got tired of being the 'nice' girl, and ordered the little people to hack the thorns out of our way. They did a pretty good job of it, and all we have to do is step over the dying bushes and push away some stray branches. Still, I hated it. Walking through thorns bare footed hurts like HELL! I envy those Indian people who trained themselves to sleep on beds made of pins; this trip would have been a piece of cake for them!

When we finally got out of the thorn road and found a cave to stay in, it was already eight in the morning with the sun up, and Mr. Crepsley was as red as a boiled lobster. My jeans were ripped, but not torn yet, and my shirt and slashes all over it. Thankfully, most of them are at the bottom half of my shirt. My bare arms stung madly, and I have lots of scratches, so much on my arms that I look like I'm wearing red fishnet armbands. There were even some thorns that got embedded in my palms, and when Mr. Crepsley pinched them out, I want to scream in pain! Of course, they healed up but the sting of it did not leave. I had such a restless day, every time I fell asleep; I woke again by the stinging madness! Of course, I knew that it would go away eventually, but it just hurts so much!

It's got to be the worst day of the trip, I even had to sleep at the entrance of the cave, because Gavner said that sunlight is good for wounds (I have no idea what made him say that, because it did NOT work!) and when I woke up, I was all tanned, which gave Darren an excuse to make fun of me. If a pale person gets in the sun after a long time without sun, he or she will get tanned as fast as a dry piece of paper coated with grease gets on fire. We walked, thankfully, through lots of bushes without thorns, rocks, and grass. I don't enjoy, ok, I HATE this kind of journey! I ache everywhere, my wounds itch, and I'm tired of eating food that the little people bring us, which is usually some deer, rabbit or fox. Don't they know that it is illegal to hunt foxes? The only good thing was that I got to keep the fox fur, and after washing and drying in the sun, it looks awesome. Gavner promised that if we get back to Vampire Mountain and that he has time; he'll teach me how to make it into a cape. I have no idea where he learned to sew; I'm very clumsy with 'woman skills' like washing, cooking and sewing.

"I'm tired, is it day yet?" Darren grumbled as we passed through some other trees. If I wasn't a vampire, I would have said that we had passed that tree at least three times already. But, as a vampire, I could see that it is a different tree. Still, I couldn't help feeling lost in this unfamiliar woodland. I had to go hunting with the little people, phooey, and so when Gavner and Mr. Crepsley rested in the cave that we'll stay in today, I followed the little people. They took me to this clearing, pointed at a deer and rubbed their stomach. I sighed; they're hungry for that deer. Why, of all animals, do they want deer? At least they don't want rabbit; I can't and won't bring myself to harm a single rabbit.

"Fine, I'll get that effing deer for you," I whispered, and looked for some sort of thing I can use to kill a deer.

I never killed a deer before, always badgers, foxes and rats that I could easily sink my nails into. I've also fished before, but I don't think I'll try fishing in the river I see here. All the fishes probably are dead, their brains bashed against the rocks once too often. Perhaps I could copy a cheetah and chase it until it's too tired to run? That seemed like a good plan, so I climbed close enough to it, then started sprinting towards it. The deer took notice at once and began sprinting away too. I chased after it for a lo-oong time, it never seemed to tire! I wasn't going to tire that easily either, so I just kept chasing it.

Of course, a half vampire is still stronger and faster than a human, but we still have limits. After sprinting at top speed for about an hour, I feel like I'm going to burst, I need to slow down! SO I slowed down, and kept slowing, but the distance between me and the deer seemed even longer. Gosh, how can that animal have such a huge stamina? It didn't even decrease its speed! No, I must win; I can't lose to an animal! So I picked up speed, but I gave up almost at once. The pain in my side is too great to be ignored! I saw the deer slowing a bit, and wanted to try to run, but I can't. I just can't get fast enough! Then a small figure appeared in front of the deer and knocked its legs from behind! Of course, the deer fell to its side, on to the rocks, and died. The figure must have hit it pretty hard for it to die that fast. I limped closer, and saw that it was the little people.

"Well, that works too," I huffed, and we carried the deer back to the cave.

"Wow, Evan, what…" Darren started.

"Don't ask," I told him, taking a big sip of water from the bowl we put water in. "Just…one reminder…don't ever try to kill a deer by chasing it until it's too tired to run because a deer has more stamina than a half vampire."

"Ok…" Darren said, confused.

"Just don't," I said hastily, "you'll regret it a lot. "Don't wake me up, I'm very tired." I fell on to the ground, and fell asleep as soon as I closed my eyes. Strangely, I had a dream…

_No!" I cried, as I turned and sprinted away. There seemed to be no end, I just kept sprinting until I couldn't move any more and my legs buckled under my weight. "Get…get away from me!"_

"_You can't ever get away from me, Evan, I AM you!" the shadow person said. It slowly drifted and formed into the shape of a girl, then into an identical replication of me._

"_What…what do you want?"_

"_To tell you something, Evan," the shadow person said urgently, placing her face close to mine. I could feel her ice cold breath on me, tickling my cheeks. "Be careful of Destiny, and you'll live better, you control your own destiny, Evan, don't let him control you! You have powers you don't know you have!"_

"_What…what do you mean?"_

"_You're not yourself…" the shadow person whispered gently._

"_Not…myself? Who am I then?" _

"_I can't tell you, you have to find out yourself. Don't let anyone control you, and try to stay alive until the very end! If you don't…the world will turn into the wasteland you heard about, so…don't die!"_

"_Why not…death sounds pleasing some times."_

"_JUST DON'T! You're more special than you could ever imagine yourself being."_

"_I guess it has something to do with Desmond Tiny?"_

"_Yes it does…everything does…"_

"_Who's the Lord of the Vampaneze?"_

"_You know him, Evan, you really do. He's close to you, you know him very much. You'll meet him when time comes…"_

"_Wait, it's not…Darren, is it?"_

"_No…neither is he any one from Cirque Du Freak. He's close to you in your heart…"_

"_Who is it? Just tell me and spare all this doodad!"_

"_No…you must wake now…it is your destiny…"_

"_It is my destiny to wake up?"_

"_No…just live…try to survive, and fulfill your destiny!"_

"_I don't understand you; you sound like some kind of sucky soap opera!"_

"_I have to go now, you know everything, and you just didn't look close enough!"_

"_Close enough…how do I look close enough? Tell me!"_

"_No…I must go now…"_

"_Stay! I am you, I want to stay!"_

"_No…"_

"_DON'T!"_

A piercing scream woke me from my conversation with the shadow me. Darren was sitting up, and shouting.

"What is it?" Mr. Crepsley asked sharply.

"Tell them that they can't eat them!" Darren shrieked. I looked, and my eyes grew wide. There were actually WOLVES in this cave!

"WOLVES!" I yelled, and backed up.

"No, they won't hurt you!" Darren said. Yeah right wolves are wild animals!

"No, go and find some other food!" Darren yelled at the little people. One of them wanted to protest, at least he looked like he was about to protest, but the little person with the limp who Darren and Evra renamed as Lefty stopped him and they went out to find some other food.

"Get those wolves out of here before they eat someone!" I snapped, trying to climb the walls.

"Relax, they won't eat you," Darren said, "see?" he went over and patted the wolf cub on its head. It licked his hand and wags its tail.

"All the same, get them out!" I told him. "They're probably full of parasites!" The male, who looked like the leader, growled at me. "See, he is going to kill something!"

"Relax, Evan," Gavner laughed, "those wolves won't hurt you."

"Yeah, right, they're probably going to slit my throat if I go over!" I snapped.

"Come on, Evan, they're really cute," Darren said, "Rudi and Streak won't hurt anyone."

"Rudi, Streak?" I said in a nervous laugh, "You even gave them NAMES?" Streak growled at me again.

"Evan, they won't hurt you," Gavner said again.

"No… try petting them like Darren of the jungle is!" Mr. Crepsley held out his hand, and Rudi and Streak licked his hand. Even the shyer female wolves did too.

"I've always had a way with wolves," Mr. Crepsley said, unable to keep the pride away from his voice.

"Crazy, you're all crazy! Next you're be writing peace treaties with the vampaneze and eating tofu hotdogs like vegetarians!" I said, shaking my head. Wolves are wild, don't they understand? They're dangerous, and probably have fleas, don't they see anything?

"Evan, many vampires believe that we are descended by wolves, you know? Humans are descended by monkeys, and vampires are by wolves." Gavner told me, while petting one of the females.

"Crazy, no one knows for sure if we're descended by monkeys or not!" I told them, "It's just a legend!"

"Have it your way, but wolves are generally gentle and almost tame to vampires, if you get lost and things, they'll guide you, and I even heard stories about people being rescued by wolves," Gavner said.

"Fine…" I said, and slowly walked over and held out my hand. "I didn't mean to call you covered with parasites, I just…well, humans say those things." Instead, Streak sniffed my hand and growled, then pawed the ground.

"Streak, what are you doing?" Darren asked.

"See, he doesn't like me!" I told him, backing away. "He's weird…" But when I backed to the wall, Streak was perfectly friendly again other than the fact he kept growling in my direction.

"That wolf's weird…what did I do wrong?" I asked.

"I don't know…maybe you smell like cats?" Darren asked.

"Very funny," I told him. They played with the wolves for a while, and we walked a bit to the next cave. To my horrors, the wolves followed and even stayed for the night!

"Why can't they leave?" I moaned, tossing some spare meat to them. "Don't they have dens or something?"

"Perhaps, but I think they like to stay here," Darren said, shrugging. No! Now we have to share our cave with those wolves! I didn't really sleep, I was too afraid that they might rip me to bits if I leave the cave by myself. I desperately hoped for that mysterious shadow me to appear again; I must ask her so many things! But no, she didn't appear. Who on earth is the Lord of the Vampaneze? She said that it was someone close to my heart. Is the lord of the vampaneze my father? No, don't be silly…then who? Maybe…Mr. Vladimir? I have no idea; there are just too many possibilities! I wish that I know what she is trying to tell me.

And, what did she mean about controlling my destiny? Is that time meddler Mr. Tiny meddling with my future? What if I was supposed to be from that wasteland, or maybe I'm a Neanderthal girl bought to the future? No, that's impossible, if I'm from the past, how can I have the family resemblance? Perhaps it was just a dream…? No, dreams mean something, not just…dreams. What did Shadow me say? She said that I can't die, that I need to survive 'til the end. When is the end? The end of my life or the end of the earth? I don't know…I have no idea who this person is saying…I never saw her before…is it true, that she really is me?

"Why do I have to do all the hunting, why can't Darren do it sometimes?" I begged that night, when we just woke up. "He can do something, can't he? Why do I do all the things?"

"Darren will do what he has to do," Mr. Crepsley said sternly, so I sighed and walked out with the two little people.

"Vampires, sexists as usual," I grumbled under my breath. I have been in a grouchy moo ever since Gavner moved in, his snores kept me up half the day! "Well, what do you want to day?" Lefty pointed at a fox that was running across the field.

"A fox…fine. At least I get to keep the fur, right?" Lefty nodded. I ran over and stalked the fox. Hunting foxes are boring sometimes; all you have to do is stalk it until it reaches its den then sink your nails into as many foxes as you can. This fox seemed young, perhaps a young male going a-courting? I followed it aside the river where the rushing water drowned every sound, then pass some bushes. Gosh, where is he going? Sweat drifted down my forehead. Gah, sweat makes my scar itch for some reason, I can't wait to get back to the city and get some ointment for it! I tensed, waiting to pounce on the fox. What ever, if it won't lead me to its den, I'll just kill it strait away and go look for more lately. The fox turned its ears, as if it heard something I didn't hear…what was that? It sounded like some kind of high pitched wail…No! Shoot, I had left the fox unobserved…wait, it wasn't my fault, and it just started running!

"Shoot, just stop running, will you?" I muttered softly, and chased after it bent down. Finally, I caught the fox.

"Got you!" I cheered, and was going to sink my nails into it when something large barreled me off my feet!

"What the…?" I grumbled as I got to my feet. The fox was nowhere to be seen, but what I can see was this huge brown bear foaming at the mouth running away!

"Cool…maybe they'll want a bear?" I said to myself and chased after it. It kept running until it came to this clearing, where (I groaned) Darren and the wolves were. The cub, Rudi, was on a tree and Darren was trying to coax it away. The ear barreled strait towards Darren, knocking him off his feet! The wolves helped too, but the bear was too strong for them. Darren and the wolves just kept fighting the bear until suddenly…the little people came! They pushed the bear, and they were actually strong! I always thought that the little people were weak so they can't hunt, but they're actually stronger than us! But then the bear fell on to one of the little people, and I heard the disgusting crack of bones. When the bear stood again, I saw the little person's body with jagged bones sticking out of it, staining the blood wet. Talk about gross! Lefty head butted it again and again, but, just once, the bear grabbed hold of Lefty and swung him against a tree. Of course, Darren wanted to help but the bear swung him against the tree as easily as I could swing a bag of marshmallows.

"God, Darren, why do I always have to save you?" I muttered angrily. Should I save him? The answer was yes, even though I hated him. So, taking the dagger Amber gave me that I never went any where without, I ran into the clearing.

"Oi, you big lump of blubber!" I shouted, "Come and get me if you can!" The bear saw me, and charged. It looked even scarier up close, I saw that it was not only foaming at the mouth, its eyes were bloodshot and unfocused, and its mouth was bloody.

"Come and get me if you can, you're not fast enough!" I called, and I stood straight. Like I expected, the bear leaped, aiming for my head. But that was exactly what I wanted it to do, and while it's in the air I knelt and rolled, then sank the dagger into its stomach when it's passing. It fell on to it's side, then thrashed around for a while, then was still.

"Darren, you stupid, foolish, air headed," I started, and then stopped. "Why do you always get yourself killed?"

"I…I was trying to rescue Rudi," Darren said, pointing at the cub.

"Stupid boy," I muttered, for Rudi was climbing off slowly by himself.

"Well…thanks for rescuing me, but I would have managed," Darren said. Gah, that arrogant fool! I just saved his life, and that's what he says?

"I'm going to get my dagger back from that furry body, don't cause that tree to fall and crush you while I'm gone, ok?" I told him. I walked over, and pulled the dagger out.

"Yuck, vampaneze blood," I said, grimacing and wiping the blood off on a tree.

"We should tell Mr. Crepsley," Darren said, getting up slowly and limping towards the wolves.

"Right…and I bet he'll go like, oh, Darren, you killed a mad bear by yourself? And everyone will forget to mention me, as always, basically, I don't even exist!" I said darkly.

"Evan, BECAREFUL!" Darren shouted, but it was too late. The bear had been feigning its death; it really still had one blow left. And that blow came from behind me, which knocked me off. It would have been ok, but he knocked me the other way…_towards the river!_


	21. Chapter 20

Falling into the river wasn't as bad as I imagined. It was even worse! I had imagined the water to be like water in a bathtub, or perhaps a swimming pool. But no, the river was as wild as that mad bear had been when it's alive. After falling in to the water, the first thing that came to my mind was: HOLY COW, THIS WATER'S COLD!

The water pushed against my skin, giving me lots of goose bumps and I could feel my blood turn to ice. Everything seemed to stop, and all I could feel was the cold. Air burst from my lungs, and I sucked in a mouthful of ice cold water. That shook me out of my dizziness from the cold. I tried to swim, but my body won't respond. The cold was too powerful; nothing would listen to my command. Then, a current swept me off my feet and a floated to the surface. Air was sweet and delicious, but everything seemed to be spinning. Then, I noticed that it is not them that are spinning; the river's moving so fast that everything off-shore was a blur. No, I'm going to get swept down mountain if I don't stop soon! Trying to grab hold of something, no, fingers won't respond, yes, got something! No, just a piece of driftwood.

Driftwood's kind of useful, holding on to it like my life depends on it, well, my life DO depend on it a bit, floating, ouch! Bumped into rock, eyes blurry, ouch! Bumped into another rock, lots of rocks here, why am I spinning too? Oh no, it's a whirlpool! Is it a whirlpool? I don't know, spinning, spinning, ouch! Why are there so many rocks? Trying to hold tighter, but arms are too weak. Not a whirlpool, grabbing hold of roots, too slippery, fingers slipped, no! Rock breaks driftwood, drifting by self again, arms and legs like blocks of wood, no, I must survive! Grabbing for things, no, grabbed rock, too jagged, cuts finger, and falls back, yes, grabs grass! Holding on to grass, trying to climb, inching slowly, no! Grass tears off with roots in my hands, spinning in circles, ouch, what was that? No, must be a rock again, water, water, water's everywhere! Gasps for breath but chokes on water, ice water runs down throat, chokes again, vision blurs, out of the water, where am I? No more water, I'm free, air everywhere, but no ground either…my jeans are snagged on something.

Everything is upside down, is I upside down or is my brain wrong? Hears ripping sound, not good, falling, falling, falling, and crash! Impact knocks brain out of order for a few seconds, eyes back, and a small waterfall behind, branches with jean material caught on it…washed away, turning around and around. Although still cold, I could feel something warm on my legs. Blood? Maybe, or is it something else? Water turned kind of pinkish, must be blood, floating softly, like I don't exists, Drifting with my face facing the sky, it is morning now, the sun hurts my eyes badly… an airplane flies by, but I don't think anyone noticed me, I'm too far away; perhaps someone will find me? My body feels like it's frozen, if I don't get out soon, I'll die of coldness, the shore has some long weeds, maybe I can grab them? Fingers slip through like water, trying again and again, finally, got some! No use, don't have any energy. Holds on more weeds, holds on to them as tight as possible, no use, current gets stronger again, no, slipping away and rushing through the water again, losing vision, so sleepy and cold, no, must stay awake, no use, eye lids droop, a little nap won't hurt…

"Do you think she's awake?"

"No, I wonder how she got into that river. Perhaps she wanted to end her life?"

"No, I don't think so."

Who are these people, and where am I? My last memories were off drifting in the river, then falling asleep and nothing. I don't remember anything else, probably because I was asleep. Did someone find me and carried me back to Vampire Mountain, or did a human find me and bring me to the hospital? No, certainly not the hospital. What if they are vampire hunters? No, they're not; they would have killed me long ago. Then…who? I opened my eyes slowly, because every part of me ached like mad. It was dark, and I wasn't in the hospital, no. There were stalactites in the ceiling, and so I must be in some cave sort of thing. I felt around my mouth; my father had said to look if your tongue is cut off, because you can lose lots of blood that way. No, nothing in my mouth is broken other than the insides of my cheeks which were ripped to pieces by my teeth.

"Where…where am I?" I asked to the mysterious people who recued me.

"Birch, she's awake," someone called from my right. I tried to turn over, but something was holding me.

"Hello…where am I?" I snapped. I hate it when people ignore me, even if I'm in a very sticky situation. That often gets me in trouble, but a leopard can't change its spots, right?

"You're still on the mountain," a new voice said.

"Ok…I thought that I was in a hospital, that's all, and that I'm hallucinating." The first person laughed.

"Hear that, Birch? Even though she's wounded, she's still funny."

"Yes, sister, but we need to explain things to this young lady first. Can you move?" Birch said. I thought that he was talking to the lady, but no, he was talking to me.

"I don't know, I can talk, though," I told him, and tried to move. "Yeah, I can move all right, but I ache a lot." The lady, Birch's sister, laughed again.

"Ebony, stop laughing, we have to help her," Birch snapped.

"There's something tying me to this…thing, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes, so you won't fall and impale yourself on the stalagmites below," Ebony said. Gulp, there are stalagmites below?

"Well, I think I can like, navigate well now," I told them.

"Ok, but don't rush to move, you'll fall," Birch said, and someone pushed something, which made another thing (hey, I can only see the ceiling, so don't blame me!) and finally I felt the straps fall loose. I could breathe more easily now, I sat up slowly and looked around my surroundings. It was a large cave, as large as the one we found those broken coffins in, but this one had stalagmites and stalactites throughout it, other than a few places where it's just smooth. There was lots of equipment lying around, and sitting on some foldable chairs were two people who look very different yet had resemblance to each other.

"Uh…who are you?" I asked them. Oops, I've just acted so dumb.

"I'm Ebony Tarragon, and this is my twin younger brother Birch Tarragon. We're hikers, just scaling this mountain, and we saw you lying on the bank so we took you into this cave where we're staying and nursed you back to life," Ebony said. Ebony wasn't much older than me, just in her twenties. I have no idea where they're from, because they both had English accents yet they look Vietnamese. Both of them had the same lush, black hair, high cheekbones and healthily tanned faces, and the same athletic built and strong muscles. I have a feeling that if in a hand combat, most humans would lose. The only things alive on this mountain that can hurt them would be the vampires, mad animals, and wolves.

"Thank…you," I said slowly, "I need to get to the top of the mountain, will you help me?" There were no rules saying that non-vampires can't use equipment, and I'm not exactly using them if they're just helping me, aren't I? I've always said that going through loopholes would save someone's life, and now it's saved mine.

"Sure," Ebony laughed, "we're trying to get over this mountain too; we'll just drop you off at the top. Mind you, I don't think anyone lives here!"

"You'd be surprised by the population there," I told her.

"Oi, sis, I think we better stay here for a bit, her leg isn't that well yet," Birch called from somewhere above.

"I'm fine," I told him, "I can still stand, walk and run!" To prove that, I walked around and ran. But after a few strides, my leg hurt so much that I had to stop and rest.

"I guess I can't run yet…" I told him, but I think I could walk fine! I tried jumping, but I couldn't do that either. Ebony had to rush up and grab me so that I won't impale myself on a stalagmite!

"Tough luck, you won't be able to jump past gaps or run when there's a mud slide, so we're staying until you're better," Birch said, "and by the mean time, you'll have to help with some chores!" I groaned; oh great, now I have to help again, even though I floated down the river! I helped when I'm human, when I'm with Mr. Crepsley, and when I'm in the cirque, and now I have to help…again!


	22. Chapter 21

"Opal, did you bring the firewood yet? I really need them," Birch yelled from the cave. I was outside, gathering firewood. Even though I can sort of jump now, they still wouldn't start the 'expedition' up Vampire Mountain. I had gone under the alias of Opal Giovanni, the adopted daughter of a certain Doctor Giovanni. If they had checked, they would have known that my 'alias' is just based on the Artemis Fowl series, after a cunning and sly pixie.

"Yeah, I have a bundle, is that enough? Or would you need the whole tree?" I shouted back, carrying the bundle of fire wood and going back to him. He looked up from his navigation chart, or what ever it is.

"Yes, a bundle is enough and I do not need a whole tree. Seriously, if I never saw you, I'd think that you're eighteen!" Inside, I smiled. I'm seventeen, almost eighteen, so it's probably a compliment. The only bad thing is that I still look about fifteen, which really sucks because if I ever go into the city, I won't be able to drive, something I've always dreamed of doing.

"Oh well," I told him, inching away, "I'm just going to…"

"You're going to help sis with hunting, mind you," Birch said without looking up, "Don't think that you can go down to the river and sleep like last time, even if you fooled sis, I know that you're already kind of better already." Oh well, now I'll have to spend the afternoon hunting with Ebony. Ever since I arrived here, I'd been sleeping at night and working at day like a human. I wandered out, and walked along the river to find Ebony. Even when she's fishing, Ebony looked pretty, something I'll never be. Her long black hair hung in a single braid, and her face shone with determination. Even if she's mad as hell and shouting, which she often does to Birch, she's still pretty. Maybe I can get some surgery or something when we get back, and get rid of my long ugly scar that I got while we were chasing after those stupid vampaneze? No, I mustn't think about plastic surgery and those un-important whatnots before I get into that hall of princes or what ever it's called safely.

"Birch told me to help you fish," I told Ebony wearily, "But don't expect me to gut the fishes, I don't do that line of work." Ebony gave me the ghost of a smile, and returned to picking at a single gossamer wire that's in the water. It took me a few minutes to realize that she was fishing the traditional way, or should I say the human way, with a fishing line that has a hook and a sinker.

"Then please help fish. Don't talk to me; I'm trying to get that large bass."

"Ok…" I told her. "Can I help too? I kind of…know how to fish." I wasn't lying exactly; I had fished for Darren and Mr. Crepsley before, but with a net. I suppose it won't be too hard to fish with my bare hands or with a fishing rod, will it? Ebony grunted a reply, and I took some string. I had no idea how to fish with a fishing rod, so I copied Ebony and put a worm on the hook then lowered it into the water. After a long time, I still have no luck, neither did Ebony.

"God…why won't they move?" I muttered. It's as if the fish knew that this is a trick to kill them, and are staying wary of us! If only I had mystical vampire powers to summon them from the river…my thoughts ran to how Darren interacted with the wolves, who acted as if they could understand him. Perhaps, just perhaps, vampires could make fish understand them too?

"Come little fishes, make way for the bass. Come little bass, come to me. Eat this delicious worm on the hook, I won't hurt you," I whispered to the water. There was no response, but the fish shifted a bit in their order. "Come little bass, eat this delicious, fat, juicy worm. You must be cold, in that disgusting water and you must be hungry too. Just eat this worm and you'll be fine, I'm here to help you. You must eat it, or you'll die!" With alarming speed, the bass swam over to my hook and actually swallowed it! Ye gods, vampires really can summon any animal! Can I summon a tiger not to eat me? Perhaps, but I don't think I'll ever want to test my luck!

"Reel him in, before he gets away!" Ebony shouted, waking me from my thoughts. I had been so surprised that I didn't do anything about my line! I tugged on it, and the fish came flying out of the water and on to the snow. It flopped around for a while until Ebony tackled it and pulled the hooks through its gills. It flipped, and then stopped, its eyes dull and still.

"That was a good catch," Ebony said, raising her eyebrows at me in amazement, "I never knew that you can fish, I guess I underestimated you!" I smiled at her; what she doesn't know won't hurt her! We fished for the whole afternoon; with the total number of fishes we fished being nine. Ebony would have kept on fishing, but I told her not to. The rest were mostly little fish, which should be left alone to grow then have babies to raise the population. It's easy to see why some vampires disrespect humans; they could never live in harmony with nature.

"Birch, we're back with the fishes!" Ebony yelled as we heaved the bucket of fish into the cave. Even though I could have lifted it with one hand, human girls can't do that and since I'm supposed to act like one, I pretended to be stressed by it.

"Oh, how many fish did you guys get? I'm guessing that we'll have a fish for each of us, and I'll have to go and hunt for some deer later!" Birch shouted back.

"Oh yeah? We got twelve fishes, like you ever beaten that!" Ebony yelled.

They walked into the part of the cave that was Birch's 'study' and found Birch with his feet on his bags and sitting on a folded chair, reading a map.

"Humph, I've gotten more fish than that in an hour!" he snorted, and went back to drawing some route.

"Bitch," Ebony muttered under her breath.

"You mean bastard, sis," Birch shouted absent-mindedly. I had to resist the urge to laugh; this pair of twins is certainly entertaining! Ebony went to prepare the meal, and I suddenly found myself alone with Birch without Ebony standing anywhere she could hear anything I say or even shout. Birch put down the map slowly.

"My sister forbade me to say anything about this, but since she's not here what she doesn't know won't hurt her," Birch said sternly. "Now, you're not going to lie to me, because you're not who you seem to be! So, tell me, who am you and what is your purpose here?"

"I'm Opal Giovanni, Birch, I told you that a thousand times already! And I'm going to the top of this mountain to see some friends of mine!" I told him. No, I can't have my undercover be ruined!

"Yeah right," Birch snorted, still looking serious. "You don't think that I'm just some stupid hiker, who likes to annoy his sister, do you? Because you're very wrong, I got top marks in college, even higher scores than my sister's. And I know that there's no Opal Giovanni because it's an alias!"

"Why do you say so, then?" I asked.

"Because, dummy, it's a stupid alias! Anyone who's read Artemis Fowl would know that it comes from Opal Koboi's alias when she goes into human form!' Birch responded, "Besides, I have friends who study mountains and they said that there is no human population on this mountain! And I also told them to tell me anyone they see on top of the mountain, and there's no one there!" Oops, now…what should I do? My cover's broken, and I don't have a story to tell.

"That doesn't proof anything," I told him defiantly, "My friends are visiting later, not right now. I told them that it'll probably take me a month to get there, so they'll come in a month! And…yes, Opal Giovanni's an alias, I can't just tell my name to total strangers, even if they saved my life when I accidentally fell into the river when I'm fishing!" Birch raised an eyebrow at me; I know that he hadn't been fooled. I sighed; I better just tell him the truth and am done with it...sometimes, the truth is the best lie.

"Fine, I'm a half vampire. I'm travelling with my mentor Mr. Crepsley and his other assistant, Darren Shan. But half way up the mountain, we found some blood of a vampire so it knocked us off our track and we stayed there a few days, while Darren made friends with some wolves. It was going fine, but then this mad bear appeared, and well, I killed it to save Darren but while I thought its dead, it knocked me into the river. Now, I need to get back to the top of the mountain where it's our destination!" Birch looked stunned, and then gave a short laugh.

"You think I'll actually believe that?" Birch laughed, "I knew that you were dumb, but I never knew that you were so stupid!" Anger boiled in me, how this little human dare call me stupid! But it calmed down soon. He believed in my other cover, so there's no need to convince him that I'm a vampire, and it won't exactly give my cover away.

"So…I believe you now, but what's your real name?" Birch asked once he got over his laughing fit.

"I can't tell you…" I said slowly, "well, fine, but I hate it. My real name is Ling Lin, it sounds horrible, right?"

"Not really…Ling," Birch said, still trying not to laugh. I rolled my eyes and he burst out laughing. "Fine, I could see why you wanted to be called Opal Giovanni; I would be embarrassed if I'm called Ming Chen or whatever. I'm thankful that although I'm Vietnamese, my adoptive parents Dave and Angela didn't name me some weird Vietnamese name."

"Oh well…but you have to promise not to tell this to your sister," I reminded him.

"Duh, she'll kill me for asking you this question!" Birch said, throwing some papers into the air.

"What questions, exactly?" Ebony asked from the entrance of the cave.

"Uh…" Birch stammered.

"Spit it out bitch," Ebony snarled, her eyebrows connecting.

"Shower's free," I told her, grabbed my plate of fish and ran to the back of the cave, giggling as I heard she and Birch exchange strange sounding curses I've never heard of.


	23. Chapter 22

Ahem...yes...some of you guys are PMing me about why most of the OCs are asians.

The real reason? Because Asians FTW!! *shot* Im' sorry, but there are just too few fanfics with asians in them. So there. Yes, I know that it's not a good reason, but what ever *shot again*

Disclaimer! I don't own Darren Shan or any of the original characters!!

* * *

I was out gathering firewood, as usual, by myself. Birch and Ebony were staying in the cave, discussing the best way to treat my leg that would work the best. Of course, gathering firewood wasn't my favorite chore, but at least I won't get covered in any grime. I wiped a single bead of sweat from my brow and picked up the bundle of firewood. It was enough to last us for a long time, besides; we would be moving towards the top soon.

I glanced briefly into the water, and I don't recognize myself anymore. Any one from school or anything would never recognize me at all; I don't look anything like me! Before, I had lots of left over baby fat, medium length oily black hair, and a soft, normal look. Now, gone were all the baby fat and soft spots. My hair is roughly cut just below my ears into a ragged bob, my skin weather beaten and scarred. My body was a mix of bones and muscles, no more fat for me now! My face, once round and fat is now lean and angular, my eyes slightly slanted, the long scar running through my eye lid visible even from the water's reflection. I've also gotten a lot taller, way past my original 162 cm. No, now I'm around 170 or something! Though, I still don't have Mr. Crepsley's quick reflexes, but I can move quite as fast and as silent. I'm not that nimble, I still bump into things, but I think I can flit now. I tried running as fast I can, and I saw that the world seemed to be moving backwards like it did when Mr. Crepsley flitted. Perhaps I'm just near being able to flit? I never properly asked Mr. Crepsley about flitting, it just never occurred to me. I looked at my palm. Where I had vowed years ago in a forest where my old friend Jans Vladimir had died. The little cross was still visible like the scar on my face, a little 'X' all pale and jagged on my tanned palm. Then, I tensed and doubled over into the river. Ouch my stomach really hurts!

"Goddamn it, what's going on now?" I asked myself. I felt sick all of a sudden again, and a wave of dizziness swept over me.

The only times that it happened was when something bad happens. Something very bad.

"Oh god, don't let my family be killed or something!" No, it must not be like that, perhaps Darren fell into a ditch and died?

No, I'm wishing that it would happen, it probably would not have happened. His fairy godfather Mr. Crepsley would have saved him from any dangers. I wonder if Mr. Gavner Purl is still with them, or has he ran off or something? I laughed as I remembered that Gavner used to wear bright yellow fruit of the looms with pink elephants on them. Strangely, my laugh rang through the forest clearly. Something was wrong, the forest was way too quiet. I stopped, and knelt down on the soft snow covered ground and closed my eyes. I felt everything this way; I could feel the chill of snow beneath me, the rustle of birds in the trees, and tearing and gulping of some animal eating. I could smell the cold fresh mountain air, the snow covered pine trees, the scent of animal fur and skin, the scent of blood of rabbits, birds and…humans.

"I'm so stupid!" I said, slapping my forehead, "It's probably the wolves hunting or something, so that the birds or maybe a deer.

Why did I wonder so much? I resumed in walking when I stopped again. Did the cold freeze my brain or something, or have I gotten some B malaria that caused me to loose a lot of brain cells? The only human on this mountain that I know of are Birch and Ebony! What if they fell on to a stalagmite or something? I picked up speed and ran at top speed to our cave. The first thing I saw was…wolves. Tens of hundreds of wolves all gathered at our cave! Ok, there wasn't that much wolves, just about twenty or so, perhaps just a pack.

"SCRAM, get out of our cave!" I yelled at them, causing them to run out the cave. Oh no…I feared the worst, but calmed myself down. Maybe Birch was cooking a deer, and the wolves had just gathered here or something, I'm just overreacting too soon, right? So I dropped the fire woods and nimbly stepped into the cave.

"Birch, Ebony, are you guys here?" I called out, cupping my rough callused fingers to my mouth.

My voice echoed back with no reply, so I walked in. Blood was everywhere; But I wasn't scared because there was a wolf with a stake through its skull. That blood also smelt like wolf blood, so it was probably blood from that wolf. I stepped into the place where we cooked, and found more wolf bodies and blood, plus some messed up, blood covered work. There was the same thing that happened in the place that was Birch's 'study', and then I went to the 'sitting room' and gave a scream that I was certain rang through out the whole mountain, causing a small avalanche and a few stalactites to break and fall. Hell was revealed. Birch, or what was left of him, was lying in a bloody heap by the wall, dripping in blood. Bits and pieces of him lied through out the cave, torn and ripped. There were no wolves here just a lone wolf that was chewing on Birch's head.

"STAY AWAY FROM THEM, YOU FUR COVERED BASTARDS!" I yelled at it, breaking of the tip of a stalagmite and waving at it, and it ran away with its tail between its tails. I looked around for Ebony, and walked on to find a large male wolf that snarled at me, its mouth dripping with human blood and human flesh were ripped between his teeth. Rage and hatred flared throughout me, and however hard I tried to settle it, nothing happened.

"I thought I told you to stay away from them, bitch," I growled.

The wolf did not leave or lower it's head, but snarled again as if saying 'go ahead, you're not a threat to me'. I picked up a stake lying nearby (Birch makes them in his free time, they're his 'weapons made from nature' as he calls them, meaning weapons that could be recycled) and twirled it around my long fingers. The wolf pounced at me, and I quickly rolled out of the way, slamming the stake at him. Here's a pointer: never use the side of your stake at any kind of opponent that isn't at least ninety percent weaker than you, because it won't harm them. The stake connected with the wolf's side, and actually broke in half.

Oops, now I'm left with a useless piece of wood. The wolf charged at me, and sank its teeth into my ankle. My ankle burned with pain, but I've felt worse when I traveled down the river so with a howl of pain, I kicked it against the wall again and again until it fell limp and let go of my foot. The wounds weren't too deep, a bit of saliva and some medicine would work, but I took no chances. Raising the broken tip of the stake, I jammed it through the unconscious body of the wolf and made a brutal end of it. I scanned around the cave for any other wolves, and found none. But my scan wasn't useless, I found Ebony sprawled on the floor…with her legs chewed to a bloody pulp, a stalagmite impaled through her chest, and a good chunk of her stomach missing.

"Ebony!" I cried, and limped over to her. Surprisingly, she wasn't dead. At least not yet.

"Opal, you're back," Ebony whispered, every word causing her great pain. She choked, and some blood sputtered out of her mouth.

"Ebony, what happened?" I asked urgently.

"Opal, will I die?" Ebony asked.

"No, you mustn't think of that," I said, but even when she's dying, she gave me a hard look. "Fine, I don't really know. But I think…there's not a good chance that you'll live. That wound is pretty big, and I can't exactly go and get the ambulance without killing myself. But you still have a few hours to live, at the least."

"That's good," she said softly, so softly that even I had to kind of listen hard to understand her.

"You were out collecting fire wood, and I and Birch were mapping the route and things. Then, we noticed that there were growling noises, and Birch went to investigate. He came back with a scratch, and he told me to hide and that there were wolves coming to attack us. I didn't obey, but handed him some stakes, when the first wolves came. We killed them pretty easily, and only got some scratches. We thought that was it, but then the whole pack of wolves came and we were overrun. Birch fought them bravely, I did too, but he killed more wolves. He was hurt and much wounded, but he still gave his life to save me. I fought most of the rest, and most of the wolves were leaving when this huge one just came and sent me toppling on to this damn stalagmite. He then began chewing my feet to pieces, and I screamed for Birch to help but he didn't reply so then at…that moment, I knew that he must be dead or wounded so badly that he can't reply. I heard ripping noises…and…and…I knew that he is dead." Ebony whispered. A single tear ran down her cheek, clearing a path between all the sweat and blood on her face. Tears threatened to spill from my own eyes as I tried to keep my voice steady.

"I saw him…he's dead…" I told her softly, "But he took a lot of wolves with him."

"Yes he did…" Ebony said, "And at least he didn't die in some wheelchair."

"I don't know why they attacked, they usually kept there distance, right?" I asked her. Ebony gave a little laugh that caused blood to trickle from her mouth.

"I guess they weren't hungry that time, and now they are so they decided to attack,"

"Maybe…oh Ebony, you must get better! I can't…I can't lose you now that I've lost Birch! I just can't!" I cried, "Not you, after all those other people! Do you know how many people I've lost? I've lost two people already, not counting Birch, and a lot of others I'll never see again!"

"Poor Opal," Ebony smiled softly, "but life goes on. Death is nothing but another journey to me. Besides, every mountain climber and adventurer knows the risk of going on adventures, so death isn't usually a fear among us. We already knew all the risks, so…"

"But that doesn't mean that you have to die," I yelled, "you can still live, even if you knew the risks!" Ebony smiled sadly.

"I've also lost a lot of people too, you now," she said. Her voice was getting fainter and fainter, and as I held her hand, I could see that her body temperature was getting weaker and weaker by the second. "My father died when I was four, and my mother married this other guy who she divorced when I was eleven and now I have no idea where she is. My stepfather cares for us now, and I don't exactly have any relatives."

"Ebony, you have to try to get better!" I told her, pleading with all my heart, but she just shook her head slowly.

"No, Opal, this is my end. I am destined to die now, not survive for another few painful weeks in some hospital. Just promise me that you'll get to the top of the mountain ok? For me, Opal, and for Birch. I won't go with you from now on, but a little part of me will always be with you."

"You will come with me, Ebony," I said, shaking my head, "I insist, you'll come with me, for me!"

"No, I can't, you're not a girl any more so stop acting like one. You know when a person's about to die, so stop acting so surprised about it. You'll let me rest in peace if you were a truly good friend, and not force some air tubes into me at a random hospital, Opal. My, how time flies when you're having fun doesn't only go for having fun, it also goes with dying…"

"Ebony, stop that!" I shrieked, but I knew that it was no use. Ebony was gone, her hand cold and limp in mine, her heartbeat still and her half closed eyes glazing at the ceiling, frozen for eternity.

Later, after a long time, I buried them outside the cave, making a neat mound of dirt for both of them. For Ebony, I placed some black berries I found in the bushes, and I placed a birch branch on Birch's grave. Then, on some flat stones that I found, I carved their names and 'My life saviors that I never got the chance to repay' on with my finger nails and settled them behind the mounds. I have no more tears left; I had done enough crying to leave me for a lifetime. I have no intentions of living in this cave anymore; I would not be able to bear living in the same place where Ebony and Birch had died.

I know what Ebony's last words had been, but what had Birch's last words been? Had it something to do with Ebony or me, or perhaps his family and friends, or maybe his girlfriend if he had one? I never even asked them for their ages or where they lived…why couldn't I have asked them earlier? I wiped away one stray tear impatiently, this is not going to help me or anyone in anyway.

Strolling throughout the cave, I threw whatever looked like it would help me survive into Ebony's black side pack. Those items included a lot of tissues, a spare change of clothes, a comb, some ropes, tweezers, lots of weapons including guns and stakes (I didn't know that vampires weren't allowed to use guns or any human weapons until I met Darren and Mr. Crepsley), and other useful things. Then, without another glance at the cave, I walked out and ran into the forest until its many shadows hid me from any light of the sun, shielding me from its painful rays of death, leaving everything that belongs to the past behind…


	24. Chapter 23

"Meow…" What was that? I snapped my head back, and saw a lone cat behind me. I sighed irritated. Ever since I found a bear sniffing at the food I accidentally left outside my tent one morning, I've become very tense. Of course, you can never blame one for being over tense. This forest can kill you even if you're very careful. It takes skill, knowledge and a little bit of luck to get through alive, and right now I'm pretty low on luck which is why I didn't make it up the mountain. I don't know how long I've been on this mountain, but I know it's something like months. I think it's about summer now, as it's a lot hotter and the snow is all gone. I've been living on my own, hunting deer and foxes when I'm hungry and the rest of the time I either slept or processed to where I think is the top of the mountain. Still, I haven't made it out of this stupid forest yet.

"What do you want, little cat?" I asked it. That cat has no harm to me, unless its parents found it talking to me. Then I'm in deep trouble. I leaned backwards until I was doing a backbend. Being alone, I've increased a lot of exercise and flexibility. True, I cannot do a split or even touch my nose to my knees, but I can do backbends, back flips and front flip, which comes really useful sometimes when I'm climbing on some unstable rocks. I flipped right side up, and inspected the cat. The little cat was emaciated, so thin that it looked more like a skeleton than a living animal.

"Meow…" The cat meowed again, pawing the ground. I guess vampires have the ability to talk to all animals, because I can actually kind of understand them. Know I know what it was like for Darren to communicate with those wolves, making them his friends.

"You're hungry, right? One does get hungry when she's alone in this retarded forest," I told the cat, who was a she. I went back to my tent, which is basically a shelter that would shield me from rain, made from stakes and leaves, and took out some left over meat from yesterday. I was planning to throw it away, because I don't exactly eat meat that isn't fresh, incase of germs and things. I know it's stupid, but still, I wouldn't want to get any diseases out here. The cat gulped them down, and I saw that she had a faint spotted pattern on her fur and I gasped with realization. This is no cat that I rescued, this is a leopard!

"Meow, Meow," she yowled, and I noticed that she was done with the meat.

"Well, I don't have anymore food left unless you like Tylenol or vitamins," I told her, "Where are your parents? They must be worried to death, looking for you!" The cat, excuse me, leopard looked at me into the eye, and I knew at once that she did not have any parents. She was orphaned, like me.

"Poor leopard, you're abandoned at such young age," I said, petting her hesitantly. She yowled again, but her words made sense to me. I laughed. "Ok, ok, you're not a little leopard. You're near adulthood, that's why your parents abandoned you, right?" The leopard swished her tail, and trotted over to the skull of the bear that had sniffed my food. I thought that it was going to kill me, so I killed it before I understood the situation. Kind of stupid thing to do, but I wasn't going to take any chances with a bear anymore.

"Oh, a bear killed them?" I asked, "I bet it was that mad bear. I almost got killed by it too you know, but I killed it. Well, then it knocked me into the river. I was rescued by some travelers, but then they were killed by wolves. Do you like wolves, leopard?" The leopard growled, and I laughed again, of course leopards don't like wolves, they're natural enemies! I stood up and picked the stakes off the ground. It's nighttime now, and I'm going to travel. If I don't get to Vampire Mountain Headquarters before winter, I'll freeze to death out here and be devoured by wolves. Picking up the bag which was now all torn and frayed, I walked towards where I thought was north again. Walking for about an hour or so, I stopped for some water. That was when I noticed that the leopard hadn't left my side.

"You're coming with me?" I asked her. She mewed in reply, swishing her tail on the ground. "Alright, but it's not going to be a nice journey, you'll have to hunt for yourself, you know?" She sat on her hunches and began licking herself all over. Well, it would be nice to have some companion, even if she was a leopard. Hell, I wouldn't even care if it was a rat!

"Well, if we're going to be partners, then you'll need to have a name. I can't just go around calling you cat or leopard, can I?" I told her. She looked intently at me. "How about…Scar?" She yowled to the sky, meaning she likes that name. I chose that name because, like me, she had a single scar going through her eyelid, traveling down to her jaw line.


	25. Chapter 24

"Scar, do you smell any danger?" I asked Scar. Scar growled, and pounced into a bush. I waited patiently, and minutes later she came back with a vole clamped between her jaws. I looked at the bloody mess with grimace; I still hate disgusting bloody things.

"I don't want that, you can eat it for all I care." In a blink of an eye, Scar gulped the vole down in one bite. Months had passed after I found scar, now it's about autumn, the leaves all turning golden brown and falling off. It's been a year since I first came upon this mountain. Scar was no longer a kitten; she was as tall as my waist, sleek and powerful like any other leopard. I don't know how, but I'm starting to believe that if you spend a lot of time with something you'll be like that thing. I feel more cat-like now, I feel very balanced, and I can balance at the tip of a stake without feeling shaky or off balanced. I can also squeeze myself between things, like Scar can, and I can hide in the shadows and proceed like air. I glance into any puddle, and now I'm all muscles, and my pupils thinner than any ordinary vampire's. I was no looker, still covered in scars and scabs. My hair is now halfway to my waist, and I can adapt to almost anything. Sure, I'm still terrified by heights, but I'm accustomed to jumping from branch to branch without scratching myself or moving a leaf at all. We were jumping from rock to rock, trying to find the entrance to that Vampire Headquarter thing. I groaned rocks weren't my favorite element; they're always so hard and cold. But still, I have a feeling that the headquarters were somewhere near those rocks, so with a little run, I threw myself at the rocks by my side. Let me tell you why I did a little run, tit was a cliff that I was standing on, and we have to jump to the other side in order to get to the rocks. I sort of slipped halfway; I had to spread myself out, creating scratches along my thighs.

"Ow! I hate those rocks, they're just a useless obstacle for me," I told Scar, but she leaped from rock to rock like an expert. I sighed, and rubbed my hands together as they were getting sweaty. I could feel the cool wind blowing on my hair and face, carrying sand and dirt from the ground. Climbing up, I followed after Scar step after step. There was some kind of caved in part, because Scar was sitting there, growling at me impatiently as I skidded from a rock to another, trying hard not to look down and slip at the same time. The rocks always pressed into my hands, creating little scratches that itch like hell at night. Climbing also tire my fingers quickly, unlike on trees, which I prefer a lot more. Trees won't tumble or fall suddenly, there's always a little noise telling you when to jump, but on rocks it's a whole different business. Rocks would tumble at the lightest step, and some would even fall when you so much as raise your voice! Scar gave another growl, glancing at the pile of rocks.

"Scar, be patient, I'm coming you know," I snapped, and leaped next to Scar. "Scar, what's your…problem…?" I never really finished my sentence, for as soon as I walked near Scar, I found a sword's blade pressed against my throat.

-Later

The person who was holding a sword to my throat pushed me forwards, through a set of ancient doors, and into a hall. I figured out what I was trying to figure, Vampire Castle wasn't on the mountain, it was underground, under the whole mountain! So that's why I hadn't been able to find an entrance.

"This is not exactly what I think of a good welcome, you know," I snapped to the guard, "If this is where I think it is, gosh, you guys are really weird."

"Be quiet, you're not supposed to talk unless you are at the trials!" The guard snapped. I rolled my eyes, what trials? This is so stupid! A group of green uniform clad people were trying to harness Scar while she snapped at them, baring her fangs.

"If you don't watch out, she'll bite your fingers off, she's pretty harmless you know," I told them, laughing darkly. My guard twisted my wrists and tied this piece of rag that tasted like soggy rats through my mouth so that I couldn't talk. How rude were those people? I tried to kick him, but I couldn't without making the blade sink into my throat, which I do not want.

"Ump, Ar, Gram," I grunted, but he just kept pushing me roughly until we were outside this pair of huge doors. I think it was a pair of doors, because the guard had his grimy hands in front of my eyes. He pushed me in, then let go of my eyes. I was facing four people sitting on what seemed like stone thrones: this really old guy with flowing white hair, a man with long raven black hair and sharp eyes, a bald guy with arrow tattoos running all over his body, and the fourth was…_Darren_!

"Ump!" I tried to shout, but the guard knocked me roughly. "Oomph you reap."

"What is it, Rugen," the bald man said impatiently, we're having a discussion, you know."

"I found this one outside, and along with her a leopard. No human can befriend a leopard, yet she is neither vampire nor vampaneze," The guard named Rugen said.

"Untie her mouth," The man in black commanded, and Rugen pulled the rag between my mouth away. I spat out the rotten fibers of it which tasted like rats, and tried to get rid of the smell. After I got rid of most of the stench, I started my…well, shouting.

"Is this how you usually treat people who want to find the vampire headquarters? Because if it is, you vampire princes really have a weird sense of humor. It is not funny to keep someone's mouth tied with a rat tasting rag before asking them what their business is!" I snapped, "And you better let Scar go, she'll rip someone's throat out if you keep pulling her that way!"

"Who are you, what are you doing here?" Darren asked me. I fought the urge to roll my eyes; Darren looked so stupid up there. For some reason, he still looked like a fourteen year old, and now he looks like a kid playing daddy.

"Yeah, like you totally don't recognize me, Darren," I snapped, "You either have bad eye sight or a lousy memory. It's not like I changed that much!"

"Darren, do you know this person?" The bald guy asked seriously. Darren shook his head.

"What the heck," I yelled, "Call Mr. Crepsley then, he'll recognize me. I can't believe how dimwitted you still are, Darren. Jeez, I wasn't even gone for a long time! Yeah, like you ever jumped in the river after me when I rescued you from that bear! Ask Gavner then, he'll know me. Or you can call Evra, or perhaps Mr. Tall!"

"She's barking mad," The old man said, shaking his head.

"I'm not, you old man, Darren knows me!" I screamed at him as the guard pulled me away, "Darren, you have to remember me. Or did you lose your memory? Don't you still remember Sam Gret, and Jans? I can't believe you forgot Jans, Jans was such a good friend!"

"Evan?" Darren asked, suddenly sitting up straight, "Evangeline Cho?"

"Took you long enough, no prizes for you," I grimaced, when Rugen stopped cold and the other princes froze. "I thought that bear had knocked the sense out of you!"

Now, I'm still at the hall of the princes, what ever they call this weird hall. Except now it is not only me and the princes and Darren, there were also Mr. Crepsley and this old man.

"It's surprising how you survived the river," Mr. Crepsley said, shaking his head after I finished telling my story.

"I did it," Darren reminded him.

"After you had all those practices from the trials," the old man (who I had learned to be Seba Nile) said, and Darren grimaced.

"Like either of you ever came looking for me," I snapped, "and where's Gavner? Don't tell me that he thinks I'm just some fantasy character or something for him?" Mika, the black clad prince, shook his head grimly.

"Gavner died in the battle of the scars, or should I say he was killed by Kurda Smahlt," he said grimly.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I think it'll take me like fifty years to ever forgive you guys," I sniffed, "I knew that you guys thought of me as your personal on the spot maid, but I never knew that I was nothing to you. I was just a livestock you had to bring along!"

"We did, but Mr. Crepsley said that it would be too dangerous too look for you, and you might be already dead," Darren said.

"Yeah, like saving Evra wasn't so dangerous, we just went to the nursery and took him from his evil kindergarten teacher," I said sarcastically, "Yes, I totally understood that."

"What I don't understand is why you're here, you obviously know Darren and Mr. Crepsley, but who's your mentor?" Paris (the very old prince) asked me. I crossed my arms, didn't they tell them anything? Or were they too embarrassed that they actually blooded a girl? I traced the leg of my chair and winced; I had just noticed that the furniture here were all either made from wood, stone or the bones of some large animal!

"Mr. Crepsley is my mentor, he also blooded me. Didn't he tell you anything?" I asked them. The princes, minus Darren, exchanged dark glances.

"Larten, is this girl telling the truth?" Mika Ver Leth asked, "Did you really blood her, and did not tell us about it?" Mr. Crepsley bowed his head, giving me a clear view of his muddy neck. Icky, does anyone here bathes or showers at all? Sure, I bet I smell like some horse behind, but I've thought that Vampire Mountain would have some kind of bathroom or something.

"Yes," Mr. Crepsley said, as if admitting that he had crashed into someone's car or stole a kid's lollipop, "I did blood her. I blooded her when I blooded Darren, because she also found out."

"And you didn't tell us?" Arrow said quietly. The other princes looked mad, but he was silent and calm, scratching at his long tattoos. The tattoos gave me the shivers; I have no idea why someone would ever get a tattoo.

"I…she fell into the river, sire, I did not think that she would survive. Even if she did, I thought that she would go back to being a human, much less come and find us. She had always hated our vampire ways." Mr. Crepsley finally said quietly, fumbling with his red robe. I traced the small X on my palm, not noticing what I was doing. There were stalactites hanging from the roofs, I wonder if one of them would fall suddenly. They surely don't look stable, and those sharp tips would certainly kill someone who's unexpectedly under a falling stalactite.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt your prince business, but where is Scar? She'll certainly tear someone's throat out if you keep pulling her like that, you know. She's not a tame leopard." I had to bite down on my lower lip to stop myself from laughing, the princes all twitched as if a normal vampire's not supposed to talk with them like that!

"Miss…Cho, your leopard's being handled by an authority group right now…" Seba said, slightly nervous. I could smell his nervousness, and I could read his emotions, which all said that he was nervous.

"What kind of authority?" I asked him suspiciously. He doesn't mean taking her to be chained in a cage or something, does he?

"Let's say…" Seba started, but a green clad guard stepped inside.

"La' Vigne (I got this name from the first one. Kurda's apprentice is called Cyrus, which reminded me of Miley Cyrus, so I named this guard after Avril Lavigne), do you have any business? This is a Prince's Council, you know," Mika snapped. God, he really can look freaky when he wanted to, that Mika. I swear that I've never seen anyone sterner or freakier. Seriously, it was like he was some kind of gothic person without the multiple piercings. Even if he's dressed in a pink tutu with fairy wings and did his hear in pigtails, you would still feel like you should respect him. I wouldn't want to be alone with him in the same room, or even in the same hall.

"It is about Master Nile's instructions, sire," La' Vigne said rapidly. I could tell that he is scared of this Mika too. "We did his orders, and now its skin hangs in the Hall of Stahrvos Glen, sire. Here's its head." Whose head are they talking about? Perhaps some kind of vampire traitor or something?

"Darren, what are they talking about?" I whispered.

"I thought that you're supposed to call me sire, Evan," Darren whispered back. I rolled my eyes, even as a prince, this boy wasn't much mature as he had been when I last saw him.

"Good gracious…you're so ignorant, and you didn't change at all!" I snapped softly, so that the others wouldn't hear our conversation.

"I'm not supposed to. You, on the other hand, look as if you're someone else. Are you sure that you're not someone else? Perhaps you're the mysterious Tally Youngblood Evan told me about?" Oh my frikking god, he actually believed that Tally Youngblood was a real person...

"Darren, Tally Youngblood is a fictional character from a book! Like Harry Potter, she's not real! And I'm Evan, can't you tell?"

"We…we bought you its head," La' Vigne said, and with a shaking hand, he drew out a platter. I froze, my limbs shaking a hundred times harder than an 8.3 earthquake, because on the bloodstained platter, surrounded by pins, was the head of _Scar_!

"Scar!" I screamed, "Why did you kill her?"

"She was a danger to both us and her clan," Seba said, but he was uncertain of it, I could tell. "She had skills far more advanced than any other leopard, and she's already taken down three vampires with her."

"Three vampires, you say? We wasted three perfectly good vampires on that beast?" Arrow growled.

"We didn't know what she was capable of, sire," Seba said quickly, "We thought that she was just a normal leopard."

"No, she's not wild!" I shrieked, sliding my hand slowly to the grip of the handy pistol I keep in my pocket. It had been Ebony's, and I haven't used it yet except to shatter that bear's skull. My long, rough fingernails dug into the flesh of my palm, and the pain screamed wildly into my head. I shouldn't have done that, once I've bled a drop of blood, the battle lust in me would never go away without a fight. And with anger on its side, I'm fighting a losing battle.

"Girl that beast you bought here was dangerous and you knew that. Did you intend to harm us?" Paris asked. He was calm, but I could read his face as clear as I can read a book. He suspects me of being something I'm not, and he doesn't trust me at all.

"She's not dangerous," I whispered slowly, "You pulled her and attacked her, that's why she took three of your pathetic men with her!" The demon side of me was taking over of my body, growing stronger and stronger. Yet I welcomed it a bit, its wild movements soothing my jumping nerves.

"Girl, look at me!" Mika commanded.

"No I won't," I said in a soft tone, "You'll only try to get truth out of me. I'm not stupid, you know." La' Vigne swung his blade at me, but I saw it coming. After seconds I've saw him, I knew that he wasn't afraid of Mika. He was afraid of me, the wild girl who suddenly appeared and called herself Mr. Crepsley's apprentice. His blade would have caught me by the throat, but as I had kept watch of him with the corner of my eye, it wasn't much of a shock. I dodged it pretty easily, drew out the pistol and shot him twice at his skull. Of course, my aim was never perfect, but coincidentally it connected with his eyeballs and shattered them into bloody pulps.

"MY EYES!" La' Vigne screamed as Arrow ran to steady him and the rest of the people in the room drew their swords and pointed them at me.

"You're no vampire, vampires can't use mortal weapons," Mika hissed.

"Well I didn't know that, Mr. Crepsley always took us on trains and buses," I snapped, "he never told me anything!"

"Don't lie, girl, I know Larten very well," Paris said, "Just tell the truth."

"I AM telling the truth," I yelled at him, and the circle of blades pointed closer to me.

"Mr. Crepsley, Darren, you know who I am!" I pleaded.

"No, I do not know you," Mr. Crepsley said "the Evangeline I knew was plump and cheerful, and she would never shoot someone."

"No…you don't understand, those wolves killed Ebony and Birch! You underestimated them, Scar never killed anyone!"

"What is she talking about, Seba?" Mika snapped darkly.

"She's gone crazy," Seba said sadly, shaking his head.

"I'm not crazy! Oh yea, I may be a lot of things, but crazy isn't one of them! Ebony said that I have a spark of life!"

"It's off to the halls of death for her!" Darren finished.

"You're not going to kill me, are you? I just came here!" I yelled at them. Why aren't they seeing the truth? They knew the truth, but instead they cover up with lies.

"Poor girl, such a young soul wasted," Paris said, and I could sense him feeling a little bit sorry for me. "May she be triumphant even in death."

"Death isn't triumphant, living is being triumphant!" I shouted at him. These vampires are really weird; they actually think being dead is being triumphant! Is there something wrong with them? Judging by the sharp cold points of their blades pressed at my throat, I could tell that they are anything but stupid. If I was going to live, I should move fast, faster than they can flit. I scanned the room, which was almost a waste of time because the walls all looked solid and hard. Then, I saw it. A tiny bit of the wall was slightly cracked, as if someone had torn it apart then placed it back carefully. How can any of the princes not notice that? There they sit like kings (well, they ARE kind of royalty) with no guards, and they don't even know that this hall is not vampaneze proof. Anyone could get through that crack!

"I'm sorry to interrupt you guys, but I really have to go. I don't intend being some kind of sacrifice for your vampire god what his name," I told them, then ran towards the door.

They all went along with the plan, which was simple and easy. Of course they thought that I was aiming for the door, but when they were almost in front of me, I changed directions and fired two bullets at the Princes. By pure coincidence, both of them landed on old Paris Skyle. The others immediately separated into two groups, one to look after Paris and the other to catch me. Then, I realized that bring plans on paper to life isn't that simple. Mika was a lot faster and stronger than I had thought, and with two flying knives he narrowly missed my neck, cutting off large chunks of my hair. That was when I finally let the demon out. Everything's sharper now, I could hear their thoughts and their feelings, every tiny drop of sweat is as clear as a font twenty four word to me. I could calculate the fastest way to get out alive, the bloodiest way to fight them, and the evilest way to torture them.

Ebony was right; I'm not a girl anymore, so I should not act like one. I am not me anymore, I'm a new person…a new me…Hey, if I'm a new person, then I should have a new name. Now, I am…I don't know…I can't think of a new name. How about…Susan? No way…Susan's way too…too…old fashioned! It sounds like someone who would wear petticoats and prance around in long fluffy dresses. Tally is a nice choice, but it's too…unique. Sometimes being too unique isn't good at all. Yes, this is a good name. Selene Panzer would fit me perfectly.

I just grabbed it out of thin air, and it doesn't even mean anything to me, which was why it was perfect. It would never give me away;It is so unconnected to me.

Before, I was Evangeline Cho. Half-vampire, assistant of Larten Crepsley, the lost girl who gave everything up. Now, I am Selene Panzer, with a new start, without a drop of vampire blood in me. A new life.

DARREN'S POV:

When Paris fell, Arrow, Seba and Mr. Crepsley ran to grab him before he crashed to the floor. He wasn't dead, yet, I knew that he was out of the battle. There are only me and Mika now, me and the prince I liked least. We surrounded her, and Mika's knives were aimed for her throat, unavoidable to even the most talented vampires. Yet, with in-vampire speed, she moved out of the way. She seemed to be someone else, not a human, vampire or even a vampaneze. With alarming speed that no vampire could achieve even when flitting at top speed, she grabbed the knives out of Mika's hand and threw them into his leg, making him collapse. It wasn't a fatal wound, not even a serious wound, so I chased after her, taking Mika's remaining knife. I knew that there was no hope for me to catch her, but the luck of the vampires was on my side. I was never able to aim at a target, but this time it hit her arm. She flinched, but carried on running. I should have never forgotten to tell the princes about the hole in the hall of princes, for she pulled the rocks apart and jumped right through the hole, and smartly crammed more rocks into it, blocking my way. When I finally caught up, she was gone with nothing as much as a single hair behind. Looking above, I saw that she had left a message behind, a message written in blood with a beheaded guard lying on a stalactite: _No one will ever catch me; no one will ever kill me. I am not a vampire, a human or a vampaneze._


	26. Chapter 25

_Beep. Flash back. _

_I don't know what to write now, my dear Fiona. I don't know whether I should fill in everything about what happened to me in two years, because nothing much happened. _

_Remember how we used to play games where we pretended to be another person? That was so much fun…I remember so much now…but the memories pain me. What really happened in these two years is not exactly what I want to think back on. I went around Europe, looking for vampires. I did everything anyone could possibly do, I had every job. I had aliases, hundreds of them. I tracked vampires down, and killed every one of the ones I found. I slept any where I can find, I drank blood until I am full. I became more of a beast than a human or a vampire. I didn't even bother to hide the bodies of my victims, creating a blood bath where ever I went. I don't know what came over me, I just killed and left. _

_I was on the news everywhere, and police were coming after me, though no one ever came close. By the time they know I'm spreading fear in a city, I'm already in the next city. I had no mercy, anyone who I see when I am hungry, I killed. Tens of children, old couples and teenagers fell under my hand, while the others died slow and painfully as I drank them dry. My skin wasn't purple, for I did not have any vampaneze blood in me yet._

_ I kept my strength, and my youngness. I didn't get any better looking, as in the myths vampires were all beautiful, tall and lithe, making men fall under a spell casted by their beautiful appearances. No, I still look normal, although I seem to have gained some age. Instead of looking 15, I looked like I was in my twenties. __I do not have control over anything, only my mind. My mind was my only sanctuary, the only place where I could be where I am. It was about two years later that then I met our old friend. I guess you can call him an old friend; he was kind of a friend. A classmate then, I met an old classmate of mine. His name was Steve Leonard..._


	27. Chapter 26

-No idea where I am…some where in the city, though

I crouched on top of a six floor metal skeleton of a construction sight, the chilling wind scratching at my clothes. The moon shone brightly ahead, shadowing me with its warm glow. My hair swept around, flowing freely. My hands were gripped around the cold iron hinge, slightly loose as no wind could knock me off balance. Every scent could be smelled here, including the ones miles away. Human blood was delicious, making every creature of the night crave for it. I sneered slightly, my blood stained lips curling above my sharp teeth. Humans were pathetic animals, born to serve us creatures of the night. They are nothing but food, their achievements and accomplishments nothing but to entertain us. They are so fragile; a change of the merest thing could wipe out a whole lot of them, which is why we need to protect them.

Without them, we'll grow old and die faster than any human. Our powers would leave us, and soon this planet would be overturned by animals. I shivered slightly, not at the cold but at the thought of the planet being overturned by rats. A new scent hit my nose, one that wafted above all the other scents of leaves and lavender bubble baths: a lone girl walking down the street. I licked the blood off my lips, eager to taste this girl. It had been nights before I've drank from a youngster, ever since the 'serial killer', who is me, was unearthed by the police; every one under eighteen was kept indoors after night. Not that it did them a whole lot of good, but I can't just go around apartments looking for prey. This girl must have sneaked out to visit a boyfriend or someone, regardless of what her parents told her. And now, the prey had just walked into my mouth without any notice that anything's out of place. An observant human would have seen that it was a trap, the way the shadows folded upon each other, but this girl took no notice.

I reached behind my back and drew my weapons: Two long, identical blades with black leather grips and slightly curved blades carved from stygian iron. A simple swing of it would carve a pretty pattern on a human's back, and if I pressed hard enough, it could also harm a vampire. My fingers itched to swing them around, but my willpower told me not to. Good bye girl, it's off to heaven for you. My back leg muscles tensed, and I leaped off the building. Sceneries and things flew past me, the ground getting clearer and clearer. A three floor jump would kill a human easily, but a six floor jump is nothing to me. My highest record was ten floors, where I had to jump because I'd been careless and the police was coming to my city. Nothing could stop me, not even the army now. My lips widened to a terrible snarl, my blades crossed for perfect position and my feet moving as fast as they can so that I seemed like I was running down the building. Then…I felt something hit my left feet so hard that I screamed out in pain, falling headfirst. Something slammed into my side, and I felt the back of my head smash into something very hard. Then I was falling, my stomach floating to my throat…until I impacted to the ground again, which knocked just about everything out of order for me.

"Is she awake? If so, interrogate her," an unfamiliar voice said. I opened my eyes, which hurt a lot. If opening my eyes hurts that much, it probably means that I was badly hurt. It would also explain why there are five purple moons in the sky, and that I had eight feet liked an octopus.

"Girl, are you awake?" someone asked me. I could see the blurry figure of someone with four arms, six legs and two heads, meaning I'm still seeing things.

"Give her some eye drops," someone called, and I felt the painful sensation as something slid into my eyeballs. I wanted to thrash out, but I can't. It was as if something was sliding down my eye slowly, inch by inch, dragging its heels into the center of my eye. But when I opened my eyes, everything was normal again. A cop was in front of me, while another three investigated the scene and two armed ones stand guard over a group of unconscious people with red eyes and purple skin: the vampaneze. My mouth went dry, if these humans can catch the vampaneze, they'll take over everything!

"Now girl, what happened to you?" the guy asked.

"Fell," I managed to say. My throat was so dry that it hurts to talk, and watching his pulse beat slowly didn't help either.

"No, you were in league with them, you have weapons," he snapped.

"I fell," I said as firmly as I can. "Thing hit me and I fell." I looked at my left leg to see if it's been hacked off. No, it was still there, but a metal tipped arrow was planted inside, reminding me of how people harpooned whales in the old days. No use trying to fight my way out of this, not without any weapons. Even though I could kill an armed human with my bare hands, five humans with many weapons could easily kill me.

"Girl, I won't hurt you but I will if I have to do so," the cop warned, waving his police stick that looked like a giant bread stick in front of my face. I nearly choked at the stench of human sweat on it. I glanced around looking for any other tiny minor details that I might have missed out. Years of training has taught me that the most little details can save your life. Bingo. By my side, bounded tightly by metal chains, were my double blades. It pains me inside to see them tied by those beastly human chains, but I showed no emotion on my face.

"You won't have…" I told him, and before he realized what was happening, I flitted to my blades and yanked the chain apart. To a normal human, it would be impossible but for me it's like pulling a piece of tooth floss apart. With a flip, I swung the blade and it sliced easily through the man's neck like a knife sliding through butter. His head slid off, blood pouring from the clean wound. His mouth was wide open in a surprised 'o', his eyes wide, and his lifeless body slumped down on to the blood stained ground. "…to."

"Hey, she's…" another police shouted. I snorted, humans are so unintelligent. They waste precious time trying to communicate with each other when they could have used the time to be running for their lives. I simply threw a blade into his stomach and pulled it out roughly, ending his damned life. I swear that humans are getting dumber by the second; cavemen had more sense than that!

"Put your hands up and drop your weapons, we're armed," the rest of the police, minus the ones guarding the vampaneze, said, circling me. Two armed men against me and my blades? Not a chance.

"Give up my weapons?" I asked them in a low voice, "So that you can tie my hands up and ship me to some jail? I think not. Run when you still have the chance," The humans, acting as dumb as you can ever get, just laughed as if I had just told them to jump into a pit. I sighed, I always try to play fair, but they never give me the chance to do that.

"Not a chance, girly," one of them snickered. "YOU should let your weapons go when you have the choice!" God…humans sure are stupid. If there were three armed men, then I would have thought about giving up for a second, but with only a couple of them…please, it would be a great offense to me! My hands shook slightly, my bloodstained blades shivering just the tiniest bit. I was never a good actress, no matter what…I can't act innocent, which is a disadvantage, so I have to attack when I get the chance. A little swipe with my blades, and I sliced the black blade straight through their arms, and they screamed in agony as their arms holding weapons dropped off, nothing more than empty sockets bleeding furiously. Ha, now they're 'arm' less!

Metal tipped boomerangs are cool, but swords that are so hard that they can through your opponent's body as clean as possible and still return to you like boomerangs are even cooler. Throwing my blades out, they spun in the air and before those idiotic beasts knew what was happening, my blades had already passed through them and sliced them clean in half.

"Hey Bud, I think I'm in two halves," one of them said, before the waist top of their bodies slid off their bottom half, blood trickling down to the already bloody ground. Humans are so stupid, even their death wishes are retarded and out of the world. Don't they know that it is impossible to be in two halves and live?

"Freeze!" one of the police shouted, pointing a gun at me. Oh shit, I have no way of getting out of here now…if I make a single move, he'll blast my head off and I'll have no chance of revenging on Darren and Crepsley. Another thing also distracted me: the vampaneze were stirring, almost waking up. If the vampaneze were working in league with the police, then I'd have no chance of winning.

"Call back up!" He yelled at the other cop, and he fumbled with his cell phone. SHEEET! If they call back up, I'll never win! I can out fool five vampaneze and two armed humans if I'm very lucky, but there's 0 of surviving if they call armed back up. God…is this going to be my final stand?

My only chance is to get rid of that frikkin cell phone before he calls anyone…

"Warren, there's this crazy person who's in league with the murderers, she took the rest of the men down and now…" the cop had called…but he hadn't mentioned backup yet. Should I run for my life, take him out, or kill the armed guy first? I decided to kill cell phone guy first, making sure the number of people I need to take down…Which I shouldn't have done. I threw one of my blades straight into his chest, making a fatal stab and caused him to drop the phone…which caused armed guy to shoot me on the arm and I heard the people in the phone talking about getting armed backups to come because they think cell phone guy is dead, which he is.

"Oww!" I shrieked, as the bullet buried itself into my arm. Great…now I can only use my right hand to defend myself against him, lots of armed back up and perhaps the group of vampaneze. I had just confirmed my extinction! The vampaneze are waking now…they stir and move, as if they are sleeping. Hopefully, they are also against the armed guys and will concentrate on killing the humans, not me.

"Back up are coming…you will never survive out of this!" the cop shouted, waving the gun around. Well…he is partly right, but I will never go down without a fight, and if I do, I'll be sure to take as many of them down to hell with me as I can!

"Gannen…what…humans…" One of the vampaneze coughed, and I turned to see who it is. I had a great shock, as I wasn't expecting…him. The person who spoke didn't have purple skin and red eyes…instead, he had pale skin and long grey hair tied in a ponytail. And his face is…very familiar, as if I've known him for a long time.

"The humans are calling back up, my lord," a blonde vampaneze said, "but we have no chance of surviving, this is our only hideout left." The grey haired man swore, and drew his knives out. A little S.L was scratched into the blade of one dagger…S.L…do I know anyone who's initials are S.L…perhaps Mr. Crepsley dyed his hair grey and joined the vampaneze and is now Sly Larten? No…that is not possible…my brain is going haywire…but he seems so familiar. Was he in the cirque du freak…nope, don't think so…school….school…can it possibly be…Steve Leonard? The two words knocked against my head like two truck-full of bricks. They knocked all the breathe out of my lungs, and gave the retarded cop a chance to swing the barrel of his gun against my head, knocking my breathe out again. Why is everyone aiming for my head? No…my head hurts…I am going to get a dizzy spell again, right in battle, where I can possibly lose my life just because of a little peek of the future.

"_But…who am I?" my own voice said into the darkness. I stood, wounds and scars littered throughout my body, holding swords that were dripping in blood. A short women with muscular arms and dressed all in ropes was facing me, her feet stained by the blood that flowed on the ground we stood on._

"_You are more important than you ever thought you were," she said, reaching out and trying to touch me, but only felt mist. "You had the answer in you all along; you could have stopped the war by yourself if you've known. You are…."_

My vision trailed off, leaving me back to reality. The police was aiming his gun straight at my heart, no way of escaping now. He looked confused, of course he'd be for every time there was a dizzy spell, I freeze as if something had hit me and frozen me for a few seconds, even a few minutes.

"I'm a hero...I killed the monster," he was saying to himself, gripping his gun so hard that his knuckles flashed white behind his blubbery skin. So here I am…at my downfall…but I thought I just saw the future, how am I supposed to be in the future if I die here? There are no chances of me surviving here unless there's a miracle and some bomb drops on him, no wait, that'll kill me too. Ok, so the only chance of me surviving is if a box or some piece of an airplane falls and crashes on to his head. I wonder what my last word will be…would it be a swear word as I swear into his pathetic human face when I lie dying on the ground? Or would I praise him for being such a great human, killing me as no other living being had accomplished?

"You won't kill me…" I said, but he did not reply. I didn't expect him to say anything, anyways. What is he doing? I frowned, causing sweat drops to fall from my brow. Why is he wriggling and gasping if he's going to kill me…is he trying to fool me or something? I've never seen this kind of way of killing before: humiliating me before ending my life. Suddenly, the tip of a blade appeared right through his chest, spearing him. His assailant then pulled the blade out and he slumped to the ground, his crazed expression frozen on his dead face. Steve wiped the blood off on his pants, not saying a word.

"I suppose you…" he started to say, but I raised a hand. I can hear something…something past my rapid heartbeat and the unsteady beat of his…the sound of many footsteps, treading carefully. The backups were here; ready to take all of us down to hell with the people we just killed.

"They have backup coming," I hissed slowly, the air escaping my lips and clenched teeth.

"They'll be easy to kill," The blonde vampaneze said, standing up, but I can hear that he didn't mean that. We all know that we wouldn't stand a chance against that many people just by ourselves. Besides, the rest of the vampaneze hadn't wakened up yet, other than them two. "But it's suicide staying here, even if you take them down, you'll be very badly wounded and there will be a possibility that you'll die from those wounds, sire,"

"This is our only hideout…how did they ever…the vampire must have bought them here but why did she kill them?" Steve muttered, and I knew that he didn't trust me. What ever, I'll think about trusting and not trusting later, not when hordes of humans are going to be on my tail along with the vampires. The police back up not only are armed, they also bought hand bombs, as I smelt the sulfur smell that follows hand bombs: so they can just blow the whole place up if they feel like they don't have a chance against us.

"Hand bombs…" I whispered, "They bought hand bombs so that they can blow the whole place up…I smell the sulfur in them."

"Shit…we don't have any where else to go, sire…you should leave and escape on your own, go and find the rest of the vampaneze," Blondie said urgently to Steve. Why does he keep on calling him sire? I then made the decision that will change my life, better or worse I don't know.

"I…come with me, I have…I know a place that they would never search," I told them, as they stood gaping at me. How un-me I had sounded, and I snapped my self back. "If you don't want to go, I can always leave you two to die here."

"Should we trust her, sire?" Blondie asked. Steve nodded.

"As if we have a choice…normally I won't, but if it is between death and her, I'd choose to trust her," he said. Great…I totally appreciate that you trust me so much. Steve walked over and I thought that he was going to wake the vampaneze up; instead, he sliced his blade straight through their necks, ending their lives. Wow…talk about having a big temper…he killed his fellow vampaneze just because he didn't get to kill any humans?

"What did you do that for?" Blondie asked a weird look on his face.

"So that they won't be caught by the humans and bought to be interrogated. I'd rather kill them myself than leave them for those humans," Steve answered curtly, wiping his blades clean again.

"Can't you just wake them up?" I asked, "If they're awake, then they can just come with you." Steve looked thoughtful while Blondie looked at me with disgust.

"That is an option…but I didn't think of that," Steve said, "now take us to that place you said." I didn't reply, and climbed on to the top of the construction site. They exchanged weird glances and followed me up.

"Try to keep up, will you? I can't wait for anyone," I said, turning my back against them, and then started flitting towards…the forest where we used to go, ten years ago in the Cirque Du Freak.


	28. Chapter 27

-In the forest…

I've never come back to this city, let alone this forest, since I had left. It just never occurred to me to come back, as if I've forgotten about everything that happened here. Of course, I've tried to forget what had happened there before, but I couldn't. I've tried everything: drowning, burning, cutting, screaming, banging my head against a wall…but none of them helped at all. Now that I'm back to the exact spot where I had wanted to forget, all my memories evaporated.

"Here…no one will ever think of coming here, they think it's haunted," I told them.

"Why should we believe that there isn't any vampire hidden here?" Blondie asked roughly, glaring at me. I glared back.

"Because, Blondie, I am not a vampire," I told him.

"Humans cannot run as fast as you do, and you do not smell like one of us," He pointed out.

"Of course I'm not a human…I am a half vampire who has vampire blood but is not a vampire or a human," I told him. They still look confused. "It's hard to explain."

"What ever you are, what were you doing in our territory?" Steve asked suddenly, "did the vampires send you out to…"

"I am not in league with the vampires. Indeed, I recon that every single vampire on vampire mountain hates me," I explained in exasperation. I turned to Blondie. "And why do you call him sire?"

"…" Blondie started, but Steve interrupted him.

"You know who I am?" He asked cautiously. Ok…so he doesn't recognize me yet. Am I supposed to be happy, or?

"Uh, yeah? And you know me too...at least you used to," I stated.

"I don't know any vampires," was all he said flatly. I decided to let the whole 'vampire' thing drop for now.

"Do you still remember the person who sat three seats to the right of you in your seventh grade history class? The person who's locker was next to that dirty, back-stabbing Shan's?" I asked. Steve's eyes popped out comically as he gaped at me.

"Evangeline Cho?" he said with disgust, after a few moments of pondering. "Weren't you a vampire as well? Like him?"

"Yes…I was... I was blooded by that freak Larten Crepsley. But Evangeline is who I used to be, I am a different person now. You might know me as Selene Panzer, who almost wrecked the hall of princes," I muttered, before stretching out and start to pick out the bullets one by one, wincing everytime one comes loose. True, I have ultra-fast healing powers, but they do nothing to stop the pain.

"It is strange that you went against the vampires, creatures of your kind rarely ever backstabs. Perhaps she is a spy, sire, sent to kill us?" Blondie said, drawing his weapon. Why is everyone trying to kill me today? But Blondie sheathed his weapon again. "No, she couldn't be. The vampires won't sink as low as to hire creatures like her, ones who use guns."

Wow, thanks. I really appreciate how you placed that. But at least now they don't doubt me of not being with the vampires.

"You haven't answered my question yet, why do you call him sire? I've rescued you two, the least you can do is to answer my questions," I snapped.

"Because he is the vampaneze lord, that's why," Blondie said, glaring while he polished his sword. Sheesh, no need to be so mad at one question! So Steve is the vampaneze lord…what more surprises am I in for?

"Well, that was sort of a surprise, but I guess I'm not that surprised…if Darren can be a vampire prince, I guess you can be the vampaneze lord," I said, pulling a hand through my hair that I had let loose. It now floated gently behind my back like a curtain of black. What ever a Vampaneze Lord is, it must be something similar to a Vampire Prince. Steve perked up.

"Darren is a vampire prince?" He asked. I nodded.

"Tell me, how long you have been banished?" Blondie asked.

"I am NOT banished," I growled, but replied to his question. "At least two years. But I am not sure, as I was...lost...for a while." Blondie looked confused.

"How are you supposed to be lost?" He asked.

I told them about falling into the river, getting rescued by Birch and Ebony, and how those leeches turned out to be traitors. When I'm done, I am filled with hatred again. Picking up a fistful of grass, I torn them into tiny pieces, but it didn't sweep away the flames.

"That is very weird," Blondie said, after I'm done. "Vampires don't do that."

"Well, they did, and I had to rely on some humans to rescue me but later on they were killed by Darren's precious wolves. If there's anything I hate more than a vampire, it would be a wolf."

"Tell me, so basically Larten Crepsley blooded you because you found out about him, and took you around but when you fell into the river, he assumed that you were dead and when you turned up alive, he went along and voted you to death?" Blondie asked. I nodded through gritted teeth; the flames burning every inch of me.

"Even after you helped rescue Darren, his girlfriend, a whole city of people, the snake boy and others?"

"God, that's what I've been trying to tell you. Can't you just listen? Or are you stupid Vampaneze just too dumb to understand anything?" I yelled, and Blondie pointed his sword tip at my throat.

"Watch your mouth, girl," He hissed. I laughed, my voice sounding ironic even to my own ears.

"I don't care, kill me, Blondie. My life is in ruins, I don't give a damn whether I live or die as long as I take plenty of vampires and humans down to hell with me," I said simply, chewing on my words and spitting them out on his purple face. Then I grew serious, this may be my one chance to get revenge on that filthy hypocrite Darren Shan…"But if his royal majesty Steve would let me, I will willingly assist you guys in taking down the vampires. There is nothing more than I can ask for, other than to watch Crepsley's face as he dies." Steve raised an eyebrow, cocking his head towards me. "...and Darren. And have a part in the downfall of those arrogant bastards who call themself Princes."

"My, you really are blood thirsty...You weren't like that before," He said thoughtfully.

"But you can't unless you prove yourself," Blondie said, picking at his teeth with his dagger. Men…they are all the same. "Right, Sire?"

"I killed three vampires, wounded two Princes, and managed to damage one wall of the Hall of Princes while I was on the mountain" I said as an example, and Blondie almost sliced off his tongue with the dagger. Ha, serves him right.

"The walls of the Hall of Princes are supposed to be unbreakable," was all he managed to say. I shrugged.

"They can be unbreakable for all I care. I just know that I managed to break one part of it while escaping."

"I suppose that means you're in," Steve said with a smirk, and exchanged a glance with Blondie. He had been so quiet, I almost forgot about his existence.

"One thing…Selene," Blondie said in a strained voice. I can tell that he doesn't like me. "Don't call me Blondie, I'm Gannen." I tried very hard not to laugh, what sort of person would name their kid Gannen?

"Sure…Blondie," I said carelessly, stiffling my laughter when I saw him stiffen. "Oops, I mean Gannen."

* * *

Ok, so she is now officially 'with' the Vampaneze now, even though she's actually still part vampire.

She got in by total misunderstanding though. None of them knew about the 'weak spot' in the wall, so Gannen is just assuming that she managed to break the walls in pure strength or what ever. Which is not really true...but...oh well. ^ ^

R&R!!


	29. Chapter 28

_Oh, wait, I have forgotten someone important…after that day, there is someone new in my life. _

_For months, we travelled around making plans. We don't have a plan yet, so we went around gathering lone vampaneze and making our army. After I saved Steve's life again when he almost fell into a river, he decided that I wouldn't be a normal vampaneze servant. Instead, I would be the second in command, which Gannen secretly opposed to in his heart, and he also gave me a maid. Her name is Rachelle, a female vampaneze from France. _

_I think the reason why she became a vampaneze is because her parents died in a fire, leaving her with no money, no family and no home. Like all French girls, she has tanned skin, wavy blonde hair and bright eyes. She is very cool to be with, not one of those stupid girls in frilly dresses. No, she dressed the same as the rest of us, only she helps me with odd things such as getting my clothes ready and brushing my hair, a feat that I'm very impatient at. _

_Many vampaneze oppose against having war against the vampires, but they listen to Steve because he is their lord. I overheard them talking, and I think because after they saw what I had done to a human boy who called me babe, they only listen to me out of fear. I don't care what they think of me, as long as they don't talk back. Sometimes, I think that Steve gets really mad at me because I don't listen to his every word and I talk back, but when Gannen threatens to kill me I always laugh so they can't hold anything against me, although I'm sure Gannen wishes to slit my throat. _

_I am laughing now, Fiona, because I just remembered something. I think Gannen likes Rachelle, for he always follows him around like a lost puppy. But I feel sorry for him, because Rachelle already has a huge crush on Luke, this other vampaneze who is new with skin so pale that snow looks dirty and long platinum blonde hair. I don't think he likes her at all though, for he is already engaged with this other female vampaneze named Antoinette, who I think was Rachelle's friend when they were humans. How she became a vampaneze, I know not. We three are the only three female vampaneze that I know. Secretly, I think Luke's scary looking because he looks like he could use a huge bottle of moisturizer. I found a great plan one day…which all started with hummingbirds and flowers…_


	30. Chapter 29

Yes, I've created some more random OCs.

THe reason? Because I'm bored. jkjk. Well, that's part of the reason..but...she'll be an important part later on. At least, sort of an important part.

Disclaimer: I do not own Darren Shan or any of the original characters, nor do I own the original plot.

* * *

-No where…just around some abandoned garden

I lay on my back on the dewy grass, staring at the gleaming white moon and stars sparkling like a patch of diamonds. The cool night air swept around me, cooling my skin. Steve had been yelling at me minutes ago, because I made a very stupid mistake of killing this guy. I was just hungry and wanted a snack, besides, that retarded fool called me a 'real ugly bitch', of course I'm not going to let him live! But then Steve (assisted by Gannen, of course) started saying how some day I'm going to give us away, disrespect everything…etc. So, I gave him the slip and ran to this old lady's backyard.

A burst of hot air escaped my blood splattered lips, and I swiveled around on to my side. There are times when I try to look into the future, but I never succeed. The only good thing is that I don't get dizzy spells as often, but now I cannot read emotions or anything. A faint buzz was near me, and I flipped up to see a little butterfly, no, a hummingbird. It was a tiny thing with green tipped wings; buzzing around the flowers until it finally it stopped in front of a deep red, lush rose and sipped out golden, sweet smelling honey. I relaxed, and let loose a small chuckle, remembering the stories about how the hummingbird loves the flowers in nursery school.

Then it hit me, the sharp cold tip of a dagger slicing clean through my brain: the answer was there all along, I just never thought of it. I jumped up abruptly, and leapt over the hedge then flitted all the way back to camp. This is the solution to our problem.

"Where did you go?" Rachelle asked urgently when she saw me, "His grace is upset again, and he is yelling at everyone. Just like he did when you killed the vampire spy you were supposed to be interrogating, it is déjà vu!"

I watched Rachelle walk away on her light blue stilettos, her curled red hair swishing. Some times, she can be very annoying. I walked on, scratching another line on the brick wall like I always do. We've taken an abandoned school as our hideout, because no one would ever check there. I finally got to the principal's office which is Steve's office right now, and I opened the door.

"Where did you go?" Steve snapped when I came in, "I had Gannen look for you!"

"I found a plan, a really great plan in fact," I said, ignoring the fact that he was shooting daggers at me.

"What sort of plan," he said warily.

"A good plan…that will draw Darren to us. Did you ever hear the story of the birds and bees?" Steve stared at me, a faint blush on his face. I cannot blame him; although he is the Vampaneze Lord, parts of him are still very human.

"What does that have to do with anything?" He asked.

"Darren…during our stay in Crepsley's hometown, he met a girl named Debbie Hemlock," I said importantly. Steve raised an arched eyebrow.

"STOP WASTING MY TIME!" He yelled at me, anger radiating around full power. What is wrong with him…I leaned against the cold brick wall and crossed my arms.

"Debbie is Darren's girlfriend, well, not officially but he gets googly eyed around her and she talks non-stop about him," I finally spat out, grinding my heels on the rough floor.

One of these days, I am really going to loose my mind because of him. I only have my sanity and my swords now, and without sanity my swords will only bring my downfall. I don't think Steve got what I was telling him until after he thought for a while.

"She would be very useful bait," Steve whispered softly, staring at the ceiling as if he can see the Milky Way or something.

Good, he finally knows what I am talking about. I slid a single pointed nail along my long scar down my face, and yawned. I haven't slept in three days, and I am very sleepy right now. And, spending the day listening to him rant on about some plan of his is not the best way of spending my time when I can be sleeping.

"But how are we supposed to make sure that he will come this way?" I've already thought of an answer on my way back.

"Love is a dangerous thing, many men are foolish when they're in love," I said, tasting every single word like they were a spoonful of ice cream. This plan would never fail…Darren would be sure to come, I know him too well. "Darren Shan is too gullible and trusts everyone, when he's in love, he'll believe that the earth is square if you tell him so."

"For all these months, we've been searching for the best way to draw them out, and now we've got it!" Steve was muttering to himself.

Then, he turned to me. I thought that he was going to say something real smart like how smart he is, but instead, he threw his arms around me in an awkward hug. "You're a genius, Selene; you've bought the vampaneze to another step!"

Holy…what is he doing? He is royalty, while I am not even a vampaneze for heaven's sake. I might act like one, but I do not have a drop of vampaneze blood in me. He is the vampaneze Lord, but I am just a female warrior that is second in command. I stiffened my body, my skin cold and hard. This is not right, I cannot be with him, and it will be used against me…he will be my downfall… But as I gazed into his ice blue eyes (I have no idea what Steve's eyes are supposed to be -- so I just…thought of it as being ice blue), all of my stiffness melted. I can't hold anything against him, as strong willed as I am, I cannot defy his thoughts. As much as I want to forget my human past, my feelings for him had not weakened over the years. In fact, after the months that I've spent with him, I have a feeling that they've gotten stronger than before, however much I try not to admit it.

Steve gently pushed a lock of my long dark hair off my face, his cold pale fingers brushing against me cheek. Softly, he cupped his long slender fingers around my chin, the only part of me that is not sharp, and bought his face close to mine, so close that I can hear his steady heartbeat softly pulsing. There is no other sound, other than my own rapid heartbeat, faster than a freight train. His face came closer and closer, until his bloodless lips were just a hair's length away from mine. Evangeline had always dreamt about her first kiss, would it be under the moon, or a mistletoe branch? How would it feel like? Rachelle once mentioned that kisses were the sweetest thing on earth; would it be like blood, all salty and sweet?

"Sire, I have planned out a…" Gannen had opened the door, holding a large pile of scrolls in his hands, and dropped them in surprise when he saw us in that awkward position. The sight of my second least favorite vampaneze froze Evan again, resuming Selene. I pushed Steve away from me as hard as I can, brushed stray leaves away from my clothes and left the room, while Steve barked at Gannen about knocking before entering, how he already found the solution…etcetera.

"Selene, what did he say?" Rachelle asked, spread out on her blanket and drawing something with sand on the tiles.

"I found the solution to our plans," I told her flatly, hopping into my hammock. However hard I try, I haven't been able to fall asleep inside a coffin. Talk about adapting into your surroundings, Steve still has to sleep on some blankets or at least a comforter. "A little bird told me the answer."

"You mean Darren's girlfriend?" Rachelle asked. She might not seem like it, but she can be quite intelligent at times. "I don't know what she saw in him, from the descriptions you told me."

"Neither do I know, how did you know that I was talking about Debbie?" I asked her sharply. Rachelle shrugged and laid into her coffin, pulling the lid down.

"Humming birds are the smallest birds on earth," Rachelle's muffled voice came from inside the coffin.


	31. Chapter 30

Hi!! Haven't updated in a long time, but I'll update soon!

-In the night, the next day

"_Wake, Evangeline," a voice said. I know that voice…it spoke to me a long time before…_

"_Who are you, I am not Evangeline," I called out to the empty darkness._

"_Your name is not the point, it is who you are," the voice said, "You survived until now, I am impressed. Why did you have to kill so many people?"_

"_They are just humans," I told her._

"_No, they are not just humans. You were once a human, Evangeline, don't forget that. They are still your kin; you still have their blood in you."_

"_You speak lies," I yelled, "You told me that if I survive the river, nothing bad will happen. Mr. Crepsley and Darren decided to kill me!"_

"_That is because they did not know who you are," the voice said sorrowfully, "but you were wrong to kill all those people."_

"_It is not my fault," I said, but no one replied._

"_Wake…wakes up…"_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I sat up abruptly in my hammock, falling on to the floor. That woman's voice…I have heard her voice before, but I cannot recall when. I don't even know her…is she someone like me, someone who can see into the future? My diamond glinted under the moonlight, and I picked it up. I saw my reflection on its glassy sides, all of them staring intently at the diamond. Dreams should not be dwelled upon, or I'll be lost in them. I glanced at Rachelle's coffin briefly, but she is not yet awakens.

"Luke…you have to know…I really love you, I really do…Luke…" Rachelle's muffled sleep-talk came right into my ears. I stifled a laugh, and let her be. I can put up my hair for once, without her help. Taking the bone comb from the floor, I brushed my silk-like hair. In the moonlight, it has a shiny gleam to it, despite the rough edges where I had carelessly used a dagger to chop it off when it got too long. It hangs to my waist, but tied up it only comes to my elbows. Securing the diamond, I pulled a large lock of hair and covered my left eye as I always did. I haven't told any of the vampaneze about Murlough, nor have I show anyone my scar other than Rachelle, and she never did ask about it. Even though I am one of the fieriest warriors in the clan, I still have troubles finding what to wear for the day. I brushed the back of my hand against the fabrics I had collected: silk, cotton, wool, polyester and one fox fur scarf. My fingers trailed on the soft cool fabric of my silk top, and I pulled it on. After ten more minutes or so, I finally decided to wear the silk top with some black tights, and a large belt around my waist. Pulling my boots that I wore everyday on, I jammed my double blades, pistol and the dagger that Mr. Tiny gave me for some mysterious reason into my belt and walked into the corridor. I guess I should explain the dagger, it is just a dagger with a curved silver blade that has a swirl pattern on it (the same one that Prince Nuada in Hell Boy II has. I just like it so much!). Today must be a very bad day, for the first person I ran into was Gannen Harst.

"Princess," he said, bowing stiffly in my direction. I tensed, what was he talking about?

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"You know perfectly well what I am saying," Gannen said, his voice steely. It took me a few seconds to figure out what he was saying.

"I…I…I don't like Steve," I said, but I knew that he didn't believe me.

"You might not like him, but the fact is he likes you a lot. Do you know that he mentions you almost everyday?" Gannen asked, raising an eyebrow. "He is completely smitten by you. I…it is not a good thing to get that close to him, Selene, it might be used against you."

"I know that," I snapped, then faced him. "I don't know what to do; I have been keeping my distance. But I will watch out for myself, if you have forgotten, I am pleasured to tell you that I have survived three years in the wild by myself with humans and vampires both on my trail." Gannen didn't move, then nodded stiffly and walked on. I walked on to, but not before turning back.

"Hey Gannen," I shouted.

"What is it?" He asked without turning around.

"Rachelle already likes Luke; I deeply suggest that you give up on her."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What did you say to him?" Steve asked when I stepped in, "I could hear him screaming his lungs out from here." It was a good thing that he didn't act any different than normal. He was still the same, not a trace of yesterday on him.

"I told him to do something," I replied. It is none of his business what Gannen thinks of Rachelle. Steve raised an eyebrow as I sat on to my usual chair. For some reason, the hard wood didn't feel as stiff today. Then, he rested his pointed chin on his hands.

"I've been thinking…how we are supposed to…" he started, but three people: Luke, Gannen and Rachelle, burst through the door, all talking at once. I could see that Luke has a bloody nose while Gannen has a deep scratch and Rachelle looked closed to tears.

"What is the matter of your people?" Steve bellowed.

"Sire, he just rushed into my room and punched me in the face!" Luke said, trying to stop the blood from flowing.

"He was…he was…!" Gannen shouted, despite that Steve was higher in position than him.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Steve roared, and they fell silent. "Gannen, you are to discuss the plans later. Luke and Rachelle…_you two are to be killed tomorrow_." Two vampaneze came, and dragged a tight lipped Luke and Rachelle, who was sobbing, away. I didn't hide my emotions, as they were as calm as ever. My face gave away nothing, as there is nothing to be hidden. Years of being betrayed had taught me not to trust anyone or to get too close to anyone, as they can easily be taken away from you…and this proves me right. Yet, I felt as if there is a blister the size of a stake stuck into my heart. I was wrong…Rachelle and Luke's death affected me a lot, widening the wound in me. Steve then swiveled around and faced us.

"The first thing we have to do is to find that Debbie Hemlock," Steve said.

"How, sire, there are millions of people in the world," Gannen asked. Steve stared at him with a look that said 'how-stupid-are-you-?'

"On Google dot com, of course, you can find basically anyone on there," Steve said matter-of-factly, tapping his fingers impatiently on the desk, "as I was saying, we should find where she is first. Then, we should let loose a lot of vampaneze there so that Darren would be drawn there. Then, I'll pretend to be his friend and save them from being killed, and then offer to bring them to the vampaneze. From what you told me, that Debbie would be sure to follow too, and once there, we'll kidnap her and he'll be sure to follow to the trap where we kill him." Finally, this is the Steve I knew, the Steve that was the swords master and the greatest battle planner.

"A tunnel would be good…" I deemed out loud, and they both turned to look at me.

"Why do you say so?" Gannen asked skeptically. Then, I showed them the true me. Reaching a hand up, I pushed the lock of hair away and revealed the long scar crossing my left eye. Gannen gave an audible gasp, while Steve's eye widened.

"Eight years ago, we went to Mr. Crepsley's hometown to hunt down a mad vampaneze. I didn't know what vampaneze were that time, so Mr. Crepsley went out on his own. He almost got him, but then he escaped and took Evra with him. I went to rescue him, and did, but during it that mad vampaneze gave me this painful souvenir. His hideout was in a tunnel…" I said softly, "and his name is Murlough."

"You…you were the one who killed Murlough?" Gannen snarled. I shook my head, and I am telling the truth.

"I did not kill him; I merely came up with the plan to kill him. No, Mr. Crepsley was the one who killed him and made sure that he was dead," I told him. Gannen banged his fist down on the table, and I was shocked to see a single tear drop fall from his dry eyes.

"I'll make sure that Crepsley dies…I'LL KILL HIM!" Gannen yelled to the emptiness.

"What is…the matter with him?" I whispered to Steve. Steve shook his head, trying to act sorrowful.

"Murlough was like Gannen's brother, from what the guys told me. Gannen was devastated when Murlough went mad, but stayed back when I became the Lord of the Vampaneze," Steve whispered back. Gannen got over his dramatic act, and returned to his normal self other than I could see and feel his hatred and anger for Mr. Crepsley.

"We will find Crepsley and I'll watch him die on stakes with my own eyes," Gannen vowed, slamming his fist on the table again. Steve bought out a laptop when he was sure that Gannen wouldn't slam his fist on the desk again, and searched up Debbie Hemlock.

"Bingo, I got her. According to this, she is a teacher at Mahler's, this school…" he pushed the laptop's screen to us, so we can read what it says. After reading the address of the school, my face paled but then grew red with excitement.

'This is great, now you can kill Crepsley where he killed Murlough, Gannen," I hissed, the stream of air escaping like a snake. "For the city Mahler's is in, is the place where he murdered Murlough: Mr. Crepsley's home city."

_What actually happened with Gannen, Luke and Rachelle_

_God…who does that man think he is? He is not even a general yet, what does she see in him at all? Gannen mused, keeping up a fast pace as he wandered throughout the hallways. A few stray vampaneze shouted a hello, but he paid them no attention. How is he supposed to tell her? The human way is to hand out a bunch of flowers, preferably roses, but he was no human. Yet, he's never heard of a vampaneze proposing to one another…at last, he decided to just go up to her and tell her how he feels about her, bold and strait forward. Not bothering to knock, as he was so nervous, he pushed opened the door to where Rachelle puts on her make-up, and saw her quarrelling with Luke._

"_I am not in love with you, Rachelle; I've already got a mate! You know that, Antoinette is your friend when you were both humans!" Luke shouted to Rachelle, who was, or seems to be, pleading with Luke._

"_To the vampires with Antoinette!" Rachelle sniffed indignantly, "Just dump her like you would dump a glass of frog blood, Lu, you know that you want me, you just won't admit it!"_

"_Just…get yourself another vampaneze, Rachelle, and don't call me Lu…why, hello Gannen," Luke slicked back his blonde hair and raised his hand in a mock salute._

"_What are you doing, Luke?" Gannen growled. He did NOT like the way Rachelle was paying so much attention to Luke. Strangely, Luke seemed to avoid Rachelle but when Gannen's present, he tends to stick to Rachelle._

"_Sir, please get out of my room, I'm sort of in the middle of a…conference, you see," Rachelle said nervously. Secretly, she is frightened of the tall, slender, blonde vampaneze. Sure, he is good looking…but he also seems as if he will cut your tongue off the second you say something wrong. But, as she did not know, Luke was sneering at Gannen behind her back, and making rude hand gestures (_I don't know what kind of hand gestures are rude to the vampaneze…I am guessing that the finger is)_ so all she saw was Gannen leaping across the room and punching Luke in the face._

"_Murder!" Rachelle screamed in a high pitched voice, "Stop, oh stop, before some one gets hurt!" Both of the men, however, took her no notice._

"_You already have your girl, Luke, get off her," Gannen hissed. Luke snickered, causing them to look like two school boys fighting over half a bar of candy._

"_But, you see, sire, I am the one she wants, not you," he giggled in a gay way (_I don't know why, I just had to say that_). Of course, Gannen kicked him square in the chest, and Luke returned by punching Gannen in the stomach as if he was the dough boy of Pillsbury. Then…it went all down hill._


	32. Chapter 31

People asked why Rachelle has to die. The truth is, her death is avoidable and seems really random right now, but it'll be really important later on, so yeah )

-In Mr. Crepsley's home city

"Are you sure this is the place?" Gannen said quietly, barely moving his lips.

"Yes…I never forget a place that has a strong memory on me," I hissed back, air seeping through my front teeth. I scratched impatiently at my shoulder, where I had an unfortunate case of falling into a poison ivy bush.

"You'll give us away that way," Steve grumbled, pulling up the end. I flashed an irritated look at him; I am doing the best I can to not do anything out of the ordinary. Besides, scratching one's shoulder in public isn't really out of the ordinary, is it?

"Just keep walking," I said instead, indicating Gannen, who had stopped and was watching us. I knew from his eye sight that he was enjoying the silent fight between me and Steve. It didn't take me long to know that he didn't like me; in fact, I'd knew that Gannen hated me from the first five minutes I've known him. Figures, that slender blonde vampaneze don't look like he can talk slang; much less raise a finger against anyone larger than him. Butt as he is one of the most respected vampaneze in the clan, I must not be rude to him even though I am second in command to Steve and he is the vampaneze lord.

"We're here," I said, pointing to a sewer gate. Even though it is years after I've been here the last time, but I recognize it's markings at first sight.

"We have to go down there?" Steve asked with disgust. I don't like to go down there either, the last time I've been down there; it was full of unpleasant memories and a lot of dirty shoes. Even though I am a much feared warrior, there are simple things I can't stand and a mess is one thing that drives me crazy.

"Gannen, go down and investigate the place," Steve instructed, and Gannen leapt in without a second glance at the damp, dark hole that is probably full of rats and guts and other decaying things. We heard his footsteps go softer and softer, until I couldn't hear any footsteps at all other than the rustle of trees and an occasional bug chirp. There are no bugs here, they know better than to come near us. I tilted my head back and stared in to the moon, its soft white glow shining upon everything. The moon always calms me down, no matter what mood I am in, different from the sun. When the sun is shining, I tire easily, and often it raises my mood. I was suddenly aware that Steve was right behind me, and it was the first time we were alone together since the incident.

"Lovely night," he commented dryly. Leave it to him for making things more complicated than they should be, and to raise one's spirits.

"There will be an eclipse in two nights…and the sky would be completely dark, no one would see me," I told him, as it was true. I must use this eclipse carefully, for I would have to wait years for another one. It would be a good chance to get important things done, such as to get more supplies and things.

"Selene…that is the name of the ancient Greek goddess of the moon isn't it?" Steve suddenly said. That…is very random; I never noticed that until now when he mentioned it out. Selene was one of the ancient goddesses, until she was taken over by Artemis, and so now people only remember Artemis. "And Panzer…slightly near panther, I could see. Selene Panzer…a very nice combination in my opinion." I frowned, what is he getting at? Is this his new hobby, picking out things about names that he hate or love?

"We should get going, Gannen might need some back up if he fell into a trench or something," I said flatly, turning to leave. It is making me all twitchy being alone with him.

"Why do you keep mentioning him?" Steve suddenly said in a hard voice, turning around and facing me with his arms crossed. "Do you even like him?" I felt my face burn, and knew that I must be burning pink right now. Not a good sign, especially if it is giving the wrong message.

"No…Steve, it's just that….I doesn't get you," I finally said, "It's not like I hate you or anything…I just don't understand…" Steve gripped my arms with his fists, slightly shaking me.

"Why? Selene, you know that you can read the stars better than I can, and we match each other! We are perfect for each other, I've never met a girl like you before, please, and Selene…what have I done wrong, I meant you no harm…?" Steve whispered, as if he was pleading to me. "Why can't this work out, everything is perfect with the patterns of the future!" Finally gathering enough strength to push him back, I pulled his hands off.

"That is the problem, Steve, we can't work out, we'll never work out…" I said coldly, even though my heart has a large tear going through it, a pinprick embedded in its center. "You are royalty; I am not even a vampaneze. You are the lord of the vampaneze; I am merely a female warrior with no position."

"You know that is not true, you know that I could offer anything to you! Anything you ask for, I'll give you!" Steve said, looking close to tears. What he doesn't know is that it pains me double to resist him, to insult him and make lies that hurt me badly. "I would willingly give my life up for you."

"That is exactly why; it will get in the way with things! They could use me against you, like we did with Debbie and Darren! If they ever find out, we could both lose our lives and we will lose the battle of the scars! I will doom the whole clan!"

"Damn the battle, I don't care anything about the battle, there is nothing to it other than the stupid prophecy, besides, there is nothing to lose, why shouldn't I get what I long for the most?" Then, I did something that I never thought I was able to do, something that pained me a thousand times harder than the river and bullets did. I slapped him across the face hard, with my cold palm. He looked up with surprise, blood slowly trickling from his mouth. A burning red hand-shaped wound was on his cheek, as if I had branded him.

"Stop acting like a child for goodness sake, you are our leader. What would any of them say if they see the state you are in right now, like some loveless human teenager! I vowed to keep my virginity on my blood, Steve, I made a blood promise never to marry and I will keep it. Nothing would ever change it unless I can go back in time or something," I hissed, pulling off the fingerless glove that I wore when we went hunting. The jagged pink 'X' on my palm stood out from my pale smooth palm, softly glowing under the moonlight. Steve stood back and for a second I thought he was going to slap me back, but instead he turned around.

"Very well," Steve sighed, and flitted away. I don't know what to say or do, for I truly didn't know. I've never had this much emotions before, as I had forgotten most memories. It hurts to remember them, so I hardly try to think back. For three years, all that came of my mind is hatred, revenge and to kill, the unstoppable bloodlust glinted in my eyes every time. But now…they are slowly coming back…

"Why didn't you accept his offer? It sounded pretty nice to me…a rich family with lots of maids and servants to look after your every need, a safe place to finish raising a family…" a silky, sly voice said behind me. It took me about a nanosecond to figure out who it is.

"I am in no mood to talk to you, Tiny," I snarled, but Mr. Tiny merely laughed.

"If you know who you are and what relations I have to you, you wouldn't be so quick to snap so rudely back to me, young lady," he said, "you have powers you don't think you ever have, powers I can help you develop."

"Get lost," I snorted. I don't trust the time meddler, not knowing your future is good most of the time. "And don't expect me to use anything you give me, it's probably poisoned." Mr. Tiny snickered unpleasantly.

"That spear I gave you isn't poisoned, it is an ancient artifact. One of your ancestor's, indeed," he laughed, "his name was Sol, Prince of the elves (I am so obsessed with hell boy II, I am putting it in everything! XD), a much feared warrior who almost destroyed the whole earth." Elves…don't exist.

"I don't have the time for you, Tiny. Elves don't exist, and I am not related to one, as I am not related to you in any way. I don not even look like you," I snapped, picking up my stuff.

"All the same, the spear will someday save your life. I promise that it is not poisoned, nor have I done anything to it," Mr. Tiny said, shrugging, and then he disappeared.

"Selene, I found a whole series of tunnels down there. It would be very useful…sire?" Gannen's blonde head popped out of the sewer gate. "Where is he, Selene?"

"He went back first," I said, "and you found a whole series of tunnels? That is good news…we may be able to use this to our advantage." Indeed…a whole array of tunnels that Darren doesn't know about will definitely help us a lot, and we will have a very big chance of taking over them. I drew out the dagger and examined its silver blade with a swirl pattern on it, and the grid leather grip. I don't know much about weapons, but this dagger has the aura of something very old and powerful…as if the spirit of the elven prince is possessed inside…


	33. Chapter 32

What is the problem with all of them? I guess Gannen didn't like the fact that I got Rachelle killed, so he told all the other vampaneze about…Steve and me. And now, all of them are calling me 'your royal highness', 'my lady', or 'your majesty', which is driving me crazy. I've got to admit that they've got the nerves, for no other person had angered me and lived. Today is no different day: people bowing all over me, and so I had to retreat to my dojo, which is also known as the basement. The basement is a wide, long room with a low ceiling and is very dim as there were only a few candles along the wall. Just the way I like it. Taking my usual weapons, which are my double blades and the magical dagger that I've never touched, I ran down to the dojo when no one is looking. If I'm gone for the day, no one would notice anyways. Sliding across the cold white tiles that pain my eyes in the dim light, I crossed the dojo until I am standing right in the middle of it. Drawing out the double blades, I started practicing. 12o'clock, 3 o'clock, 5o'clock…each of my strokes didn't miss, but there are lots of room for improvement. Months caged up in this dirty hideout had made my moves very rusty.

"I see that you have been practicing," someone said. I knew without turning that it was Mr. Tiny, the unwelcomed visitor.

"What do you want?" I snapped, not letting him interrupt my practice. That time-meddler is way too nosy… Mr. Tiny laughed a low booming sound.

"You don't trust me, Selene, but you will come to trust me when the time comes. For at that time, I'll be the only one you have," he snickered.

"What do you mean?" I growled. I will not lean on to him, even if I am the only being on earth. I'd rather commit suicide, than let my soul be taken by such a foul creature. Mr. Tiny laughed again, the sound filling my ears unpleasantly.

"I know much about you…" he whispered, although he tried and did sound nice, I knew that he was just faking it. "I know that your heart broke literally into two halves when you told Steve about your vow. I also know that even though you told him that you won't ever love him, despite that you might just be his deadliest enemy, he still loves you. I also know…that…"

"Shut up!" I screamed, swinging both of my blades at him as fast and as hard as I can. The blades swung through him easily, as if he was made of mist. Taken by surprise, I fell forward face-first on to the floor. The hard ground impact on my face, leaving a faint sting.

"You'll never give up, will you?" Mr. Tiny chuckled darkly. He walked, no floated, over to me, his feet levitating a feet from the ground. My eyes bulged, no one had been able to levitate, not even the best vampaneze or vampires had ever been able to. Then, I gripped the rough handle of one of the blades, and threw it straight at his chest. Without stopping, I threw the other blade at him too. I know that I shouldn't have done that, for I fell on to the floor again, on my bruised shoulder. My sensitive skin is covered in pins and needles, the cold sensation washing all over m.

"Foolish girl, who do you think you are?" Mr. Tiny said his expression darker than the night. Then, I really realized why people feared Mr. Tiny. The way he looked at me, I'd expect the earth to open up and swallow me whole. I felt total fear wash across me, but I am determined not to show it.

"You don't scare me," I said indignantly, trying to hold my head as high as I can. Every word that came from my mouth was false, this creature scares me a lot.

"Arrogant female, you need to learn some manners. I thought that you'd have more sense than your half-sister, but you don't!" Mr. Tiny thundered, "I'll have to teach you a lesson!" Then did I notice that the handles of my precious double blades were still embedded on Mr. Tiny's chest, the tips of their fine blades sticking out of his back, right on his spine. The parts that were visible slowly slid off his body, and fell to the floor with a loud and clear clank. My double blades were nothing more than a useless pile of melted pieces of metal, so scrunched up that not even I would recognize it if I hadn't been in the scene.

"You broke my blades!" I yelled at him. He only shrugged, and disappears. I've always thought that he only moved fast, but now I'm thinking that he can actually disappear… There are many things that we don't know about Tiny, and I'm not sure that I want to know them. As the humans say, curiosity kills the cat. Great, now I am left weaponless as I cannot attack without my double blades. Any other old blade would work, but they just won't feel the same, and that tiny feeling can make my moves a lot worse. Even if I fashion a new pair, they still won't feel right. I limped over to what is left of my blades, and slumped down on to the earthen ground with a thump. Reaching a quivering arm out, I tugged on the leather handles, shaking the pieces loose. Maybe, if the pieces are still red hot, I can some how twist them back to normal…but I have luck so rotten that an apple in the dumpster looks fresh. The blades were as cool as they were, already stiffened. There is no way I can ever fix them, with their blades all twisted around in loops and tangled with each other.

"I HATE YOU, DESMOND TINY!" I shrieked into the dark emptiness, throwing the useless pile of metal hard on to the ground. Even though he is not here anymore, I could hear the cold laughter of Mr. Tiny, as if he was watching me express my anger, somewhere in the dark shadows. What should I do now, mortal weapons are useful, but I am not a good metal man, as I only get two out of ten shots. Even with practice, I still can't hit my target every time I want to. Steve is the metal man, I am more old-fashioned, blades and javelins listen to my every command while he never missed a target. We are ever so close to the battle…yet now I am weaponless… I scratched at the ground, not noticing what I was doing, and threw a patch of dirt at the wall. The pieces of dirt got into my scars, making them sting as if a jellyfish had just stung them. Biting down on my lip, I tried not to cry out. Crying is for humans and the weak, and I am not weak. Who gives a damn about some broken blades? No warrior would ever smile in front of his soldiers, much less cry. Something sharp prodded me from my belt, and I drew it out, wanting to slam it against the wall. Violence is a good way to soothe one's anger, and hunting never failed to lift my spirits. It is as if everything I killed becomes one part of me…healing the spots that were wounded or torn slowly…mending me back…regaining consciousness…Pain erupted like wild fire, causing nausea and the sudden urge to scream, to tear, to kill. Everything spun in my mind; it was as if the room was spinning in circles while I stand unmoving in the centre. No…it was a dizzy spell, a look into the future, a peek at my destiny…my eyes black out, and I felt a painful thud as my head crashed on to the ground.

"_Selene, you have to know who you are right now. Give up this childish play, you know who you are!" The familiar woman's voice rang clearly. It sounded like she wanted to cry, as if someone had disappointed her badly. As if I had disappointed her badly._

"_I know who I am, but who are you? Why do you know my future? "I tried to ask her, but she did not answer. "Lady, I am who I am, yet I am listening to offers by some person I don't know!"_

"_You need to listen to your heart…don't do what he is trying to tell you! Your future is your own…disagree with him, don't let him mess up your world!" The woman's face was growing fainter and fainter every second._

"_Lady…who are you talking about?" _

"_I must go now…he senses that I am here. Don't trust his gift, it will kill you…" her voice is only slightly louder than a whisper now…_

"_Who are you, who are you talking about?" I yelled at the nothingness._

"_Ask for the Lady of the Wild…" her voice, barely a whisper, floated in the air. Then, she was gone, not a trace of her left…_

I stared at the gloomy ceiling, sprawled on my back. My head rang where I had crashed down, but otherwise I am fine. Who was that lady…the one that knows about my future? She called herself the lady of the wild…what ever that is. Later, I notice that I was holding the dagger. Gripping on to it as if my life depends on it, I mean. The black leather was pressed into my palm painfully, the ice cold blade resting against the dirt, yet not a speck of brown was on its gleaming silver surface.

"Don't trust the gifts…what gift is she talking about?" I mused out loud, tossing the dagger into the air and catching it. I stared at the dagger in awe, as it is not a dagger any more; it was a long spear with the same blade and leather grip at the bottom…a magical dagger, that will extent to a spear at my command.

"A magical dagger, huh?" I said out loud, trying to mask my surprise. Perhaps Mr. Tiny really is related to me…why else would he give me a spear? "This would be useful…if it proves it self." Placing the spear in my palm, it shrank back to a dagger. I held it by its handle and swung it in awkward circles. I never was a good spearist, at least not with all those fancy tricks. But this spear felt balanced in my hands, its length and weight perfect, as if it was made for me and not for that elven prince Sol. This spear would come useful, very useful…as I don't have any other weapon left.

"Well, Tiny said that you would save my life. You better, if you don't want to end up as firewood," I said to it, twirling it then strapping it to my back.


	34. Chapter 33

_It was winter, my favorite season, when I thought of my second greatest plan…a plan that is hard to beat, and will certainly buy us a lot of time in the battle. Against the vampires, we stand no chance as they outnumbered us by a lot…but we never promised to play fair, did we? _

"You seriously should get a good counselor," Gannen said mockingly as we strolled to Steve's office. I had made the mistake of telling them about my dizzy spells, and now he is forever taunting me about them. Even after months of working as a team, he still hates me.

"Shut up, Blondie, I am trying to think. Don't make me give a reason to kill you," I snapped. He just laughed, which irritated me even more. He knew that I wouldn't kill him, for Steve would never forgive me if I do. Gannen is his fairy god father, as far as he is concerned.

"As you wish, Princess Silver Spear," he sniggered, a smirk on his face. Ever since he found out that I lost my blades to Mr. Tiny and have been using the silver spear, that nickname stuck to me like glue.

"Watch your mouth, Gannen; you know that I am a free person. Even if I kill you, I will be forgiven as I wouldn't have broken any laws. You'd like that, would you, to go to paradise and be reunited with your beloved Rachelle," I said quietly, which wiped the smirk off. Rachelle's death had been his fault, even though I was the one who made him that mad, and he's never forgiven himself ever since. He did not speak a word, and neither did I, until we got to the office. I rapped on the door with my knuckles, and a voice said:" Come in," and I pushed open the door. Steve was lounging on his chair, and facing him sat a fat vampaneze with no hands. I know that he is a vampaneze for I could smell it in him, but he looks no different from a normal human as he must be newly blooded.

"Gannen, Selene, come in. May I introduce you to my friend R.V? He is the same as us, who wants revenge on Darren Shan," Steve said casually, waving a hand at R.V. That name sounds familiar…as if I've seen him before, outside this dusty, candle-lit room. As it seems, this R.V. seemed to know me.

"You! She was with them, Steve; she is in league with them!" R.V roared, pointing a stump at me. Gannen had to hold him in place, while he tried to get to me.

"Selene, don't you recognize our guest? He knows you …surely, you've heard of Reggie Veggie?" Steve crowed, snorting with laughter at R.V's hideous act. Reggie Veggie…a picture licked in my mind, of a man also large and fat with a beard, and who joined the environmental warriors.

"I know you, Darren mentioned you. You were the one who tried to free the wolf man!" I accused, pointing one sharp black fingernail at him. "You caused Sam Gret and Jans Vladimir's death!" R.V growled, calming.

"You tried to drink off me, missy. I still know your face, and that snake boy's. Even if you've done surgery to it, I still know it is you because you carry that stink! And I did not kill them, your friend Darren did!" Ok, ok…so it was Darren's fault that this disgusting half-wrecked creature doesn't have hands? By now, I won't even be surprised if I heard that Darren messed up a thousand lives.

"What good is he to us?" I asked Steve quietly. Despite the fact that all of the others were vampaneze, Steve and I have hearing better than the rest of them, and so we were able to talk without Gannen or R.V hearing us.

"He is a very useful character, Selene," Steve said wickedly, "He is not that good, but his hatred can be harnessed and used in a lot of ways. Besides, he is willing to do anything just so he can taste Darren's blood." Ok…now that IS a good reason to let this pathetic creature join our ranks…even though I dislike him, I can't argue with the fact that Steve is dangerously intelligent.

"So he's dangerous and simple minded, violent and skill-less? That is a good help to us…" I almost forgot about my plan, stupid of me. Even though I have a great memory, I still get short term memory loss sometimes and forget things that were just spoken seconds ago. Thankfully, the stench of human food on R.V's clothes brought my thoughts back. Tugging on the rough woolen fabric of my sweater and wishing that I still had the slim-fitting silk shirt that I had accidentally ripped when practicing, I tapped my fingers for attention.

"Yes, princess, what do you want?" R.V asked, his freakishly abnormal eyes fixing upon mine. One look into his eyes and I know that I was too quick to judge him. Even without skills, this person is pretty dangerous and can easily harm me badly if I'm not careful.

"I have a plan…that will get rid of the vampires fast," I said loudly, letting my voice ring through the stone walls.

"What is it, tell us quick," Gannen asked, eyes shining brightly.

"We are not supposed to use mortal weapons…but humans are. What if we convince a few humans to be our spies, and send them to track the three vampire hunters that might kill us? Then they can harm them bad enough so that they'll come to us easily, yet not enough to kill them, then we'll end their miserable lives when they get here," I said proudly, waving my newly painted blood red finger nails in the air. Even though human fashions are stupid, I am closely connected to nail polish. They are the way I express myself, like how Rachelle used to express herself by rubbing lipstick on in various shades. Remembering some thoughts, I shuddered slightly even though it was warm in the office. Rachelle used to put on this disgusting shade of yellow when she is feeling sick, and that color makes me nausea as well; Me, I really do prefer black lipstick. It is simple, original, and it blends in with the night. Why am I talking about stupid human cosmetics anyways? Toxic fumes must be interfering with my brain cells.

"That is a wrong idea…we should not make humans work for us," Gannen said, frowning. Why does he have to be so old fashioned?

"That is not wrong, my dear fairy god father, that is a brilliant idea!" Steve argued, smirking as he twisted a lock of his light gray hair as he did when he is thinking, "But I have an even better idea…that germinated from Selene's original plan, of course."

"I like the idea of making humans work for us," R.V agreed. I held my tongue, trying not to snort. This great big tomato will agree to anything Steve tells him to. If Steve tells him to fly out the window, he will. If Steve tells him that the earth is square and that the moon is made out of green cheese, he'll believe every drop of it.

"What idea is better than my idea of enslaving the humans? It is not wrong; the humans did that too, in ancient Egypt and Greek. In fact, they even made thousands of their people kill themselves just for using their blood to smear over some clay statue of a cat!" I protested. It wasn't false, Egyptians really did worship the cat goddess Basted, and the Mayans killed people as sacrifices. "I think my plan is really good."

"Yes…enslaving humans for spies," Steve murmured, "but why not…enslaves humans as to make an army to fight for us?"

"That is an awesome plan, man!" R.AV said, excited, his eyes wide like a young puppy. I can tell that neither of us enjoyed the presence of this creature, as Steve flinched. But, wordlessly, he turned to me for my comment on it.

"Sure…why no…easy, simple, and I don't have to risk my life to rescue some fool. All in favor of this plan say aye," I said, blowing the words into the stuffy air. Steve's brow wrinkled.

"Why should we say aye, isn't that a pirate's term? How about all in favor of it say 'V' in honor of us vampaneze?" He asked, looking at all of us. I rolled my eyes; this is not going to cause any difference, they are just plain words for goodness sake.

"V,"

"V,"

"V,"

…V,"

Our four voices, one low and rough, one elegant and high class, one sly like a viper, and one with razor sharpness too its sides, overlapped as we all agreed to the plan: Operation Vampet.


	35. Chapter 34

Humans are fools…they are foolish, big headed, and very simple to fool. If you hold out a wad of money, hordes of them will come flying towards you like ugly, foul smelling moths towards faire. All the same, it is a good thing that they are so stupid for if they are any smarter, we won't be able to use them to our advantage. It was different from what I had imagined, very different. In fact…it was so much easier that it seemed very much like handing out lollipops to groups of greedy children.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_Selene…what you are about to do is very wrong, do not do it!" The same old lady's voice…oh shoot, I have forgot to ask them about the lady of the wild._

"_What am I about to do?"_

"_You know perfectly well. They are your kin, ones of your blood! How can you do that?"_

"_You mean the plan? But it's the only way we'll survive!"_

"_Don't fight, Selene, just leave the scene. Go to Hawaii, meet a nice surfer, and stay there! Don't interfere with your future…that is what my father wants."_

"_Who is your father, and what do you mean by going to Hawaii?"_

"_He is close…he is going to get me for telling you so much. Selene, do not…" Again, I am left alone in the darkness. But now, in this dream, thousands of people surround me, fighting each other. A scene enters my mind, of a lady sprawled on to the ground, golden blood flowing from her multiple cuts. Her eyes were wide with fear, yet it seemed as if she couldn't move._

"_What are you doing, who are you?" I asked, but she did not reply, only to look up with those wide, tearful eyes. Strangely…she seems familiar, as if she is one of them too. Could it be that I once knew her, like how I once knew Steve and R.V?_

"_Leave now, when you can!" the girl suddenly whispered, "leave!"_

"_Why, are you hurt, let me help you!" I reached towards her, but all the other people stopped fighting and surrounded me. They are all wearing hoods, I realized, and when they pulled the hoods off one by one, I saw that they were not people. They were…skeletons, thousands of skeletons with cruel metal grins, reaching twig like arms out to strangle me…_

I opened my eyes in alarm, imagining the cold skeletons twining their bony fingers around my throat, and saw a pair of dark blue eyes staring right into my eyes.

"AH GET OUT OF MY ROOM YOU…what on earth are you doing here?" I spat, leaping out of bed and crashing on to the floor. Ouch, I've forgotten that even with my tough body, falling on to tile floors unexpectedly can still hurt. Steve leaned back on to the wall, running one thin hand through his hair.

"I was about to wake you up, it is about time to go. You do know that everyone within, I don't know, a ten mile radius can hear you?" He asked indignantly.

"Yeah, well, I was about to wake up anyways, and I do not snore! You should have knocked, at least," I snapped, regaining my thoughts and picking myself up. Steve shrugged, acting as casual as if I've just asked him whether he wanted water from Egypt or Mexico.

"I thought that you had black eyes." Those random words flew out of my mouth without me noticing until it was too late. Great, I've totally said something smart. I guess Steve didn't expect that random question, for he had to think for a while.

"I never had black eyes, how can I have black eyes when neither of my parents had them? I have blue eyes, jeez, even though they are so dark that they can count as black, I guess…why do you ask that?" It was my turn to shrug, as I don't have an answer. I sighed, if I am going to convince the humans to join us today, I better not look like some high school fan girl or something.

"I better go get dressed, I don't exactly strike as an intimidating person if I show up there in my pajamas," I said, trying to sound clam. Inside, I was screaming GET OUT THIS SECOND BEFORE I BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF as loud as I can.

"I've already chose your outfit for you when you were in dreamland," Steve said rolling his eyes. "You're not going to convince them to buy a candy bar from you, if you go dressed in the hooligan clothes you wear, like some teenage punk."

"For your information, I look like a teenager to any human," I snorted, "and I am not going to dress like I usually did. I only wear those stupid baggy clothes to blend in with all the other druggies."

"Druggies, what on earth are druggies?" Steve asked.

"Stupid human teenagers who chew on nasty smelling grasses, thinking that it is heaven," I said, rolling my eyes. How can one ever think that marijuana or cigarettes smell good? Those things stink, and even if you stopped, the disgusting scent trails you for days.

"Right…" Steve said uncertainly, and I can tell that the conversation isn't going the way he wants it to be. "Anyways…well…uh…err…just don't dress in some hoodie with jeans and carry a skateboard, okay?"

"What ever…" I muttered, and he walked out, closing the door behind him. Of course I'm not going to wear my usual human costume…I've already chosen to wear something more...striking. Walking over to the battered white closet, I flung open the blistery door and ran the back of my hand across all my clothes. Smiling slightly, I took out a few garments and changed into them. I stepped to the dust-covered, splintered mirror, and examined myself with a frown. It is not my style at all, but at least I will not be mistaken for some goony. Still…without feeling like myself, I would not be able to work better. Rubbing a few ashes on to my cheekbones, I created two sharp triangles across my cheekbones; the marks of a vampaneze rebel. Brushing the rest of the soot off my hands, I sprinted to meet the others outside the courtyard.

"Why are you dressed like this? You look like some stupid human rebel! And your shoes are going to give us away I could hear you running one kilometer away!" Gannen complained when I arrived, as usual. He had to find some fault in me everyday, even if it makes no sense.

"I told you not to dress like a hooligan, Selene," Steve said flatly. Apparently, he has to act all 'tough guy' in front of his men, not that I blame him.

"For your information, I am a rebel, and I am not dressed as a hooligan," I told them, waving a hand at my clothes: a long black jacket, black tank top, and black skinny jeans with black spiked boots. An absolute cool outfit in my opinion.

"We're not going to a fashion show," Gannen spat, but I ignored him. Steve shrugged, and beckoned me to him.

"What?" I asked. He is probably going to tell me something about my boots giving away our position or something…in any case, it would be a sort of lecture.

"I have a plan, but in any case this plan might go wrong. And if it does, I want…I command you to activate Plan B, do you understand?" he hissed.

"I don't know any Plan B, you never told me anything," I scowled. I do not like being excluded from certain plans.

"Yes you do, you were the one who wanted to activate it before," Steve rolled his eyes, "I wonder how you can make genius plans one second then forget what one plus one is the next."

"What ever, and fine I'll do it," I snorted, finally remembered the plan that I had made what seemed like millions of years ago. Steve looked as if he wanted to say something more, but thought better of it and marched off. Without a word, we followed him down a dusty road…

For hours, we carried on walking. At least it felt like hours, as it is not comfortable walking in my thick platform boots. My skin is all sweaty in the thick jacket, and the triangles on my skin represent nothing more than dirty smudges.

"Are we there yet?" I whined for the thousandth time as we approached this rundown building with broken windows, cracks in the walls, and a faded 'closed' sign on the dusty glass door.

"Be quiet, we're here already," Steve snapped in a soft voice, and tapped the dusty glass door. A figure stumbled over and pulled the door open an inch and we walked inside. In there, it smelled like moist, damp things…not a good smelling combination.

"Steve Leonard, Righteous Vampaneze, Gannen Harst and Selene Panzer?" the figure asked.

"Morgan James?" Gannen asked in a muffled voice.

"Ah, the people I am looking for," the figure said, then started walking into a lone corridor. Steve and Gannen followed him, even though I am not sure what to do. Am I supposed to follow, or should I stay behind?

"Hurry up, for goodness sake," R.V muttered, giving me a push, so I stepped awkwardly into pace behind Gannen, clumsily shadowing his graceful steps. The place that we are in is this low corridor with stuffy air that smells like stale water and carbon dioxide, and there weren't any lights. Of course, we can see perfectly well in the dark, but the disgusting air really is making me nausea.

"Here we are," the same voice, Morgan James, muttered, and pulled open a door. A gust of cool air and bright light blinded me for a second, causing me to blink. God…what is this? Raising a hand to shield my sensitive eyes to the light, I made out a few easy chairs, a desk, and a laptop. The cool air was from the air conditioning machine, and the light was from one of those light bulbs on the ceiling.

"Oops, is the light making you uneasy" Morgan said, the slightest hint of a sneer in his weasel like voice, and he turned the lights off, lighting a candle. Please have a sit."

"Quit messing around," Gannen said sternly, we're here to talk about business."

"Right, business. So, you guys are saying that you are some kind of blood suckers named vampaneze?" Morgan asked, "I am very sorry, but I don't think that you guys are mythical creatures. What do you do, exactly?"

"We are faster, stronger, and more sensitive than humans. We also feed upon the blood of you humans, just to tell you," Steve explained.

"I thought that you're called vampires?" Morgan said in a bored voice. R.V tensed beside me, and I know that he don't like being called a vampire. At least this thing shares a few things with the rest of us.

"No, that is what I was going to say. We are having a war against the vampires. The vampires think that they are so high and superior to us, just because we kill when we feed. But I think not, it is us who are higher in level. We have more power, more wealth, and that is exactly what is to live, don't you agree?"

"Right, Mr. Leonard, why don't we all go and find our unicorn buddies, and then we can take a walk over the rainbow to play with our friends the fairies?" Morgan snorted, his hand, the only part of him that is visible, shaking with laughter. "Really, do you expect me to believe in this nonsense?" Even though Steve had warned me not to do this, I still can't obey him. How can he sit there, where this faggot laughed about us, pretending that we're some fantasy creature? I tensed, but felt someone hold me in place.

"Don't, you'll mess things up," Gannen muttered under his breath, and I relaxed. He is right, if I kill him right now, there will be no one to interrogate with. So, I sat back into my stiff chair and tried my best to act human. Trust me, it is harder than it seems.

"We are speaking the truth here, Mr. James," Steve said, then he changed…from the normal human act, to his real self. "You WILL help us, because I say…" That was the cue for me to go on with my act.

"Cease, Steve," I commanded in a firm voice, as if I am the vampaneze lord instead of him. Steve growled, and sank back into his seat. Morgan James passed the candle to my face, and then almost dropped it.

"I never thought that you worked with boys, Mr. Leonard," Morgan asked cautiously. Behind me, I heard Gannen stifle with laughter while a vein pulsed in my temper. If we weren't bargaining with this man, I would have kicked his ass to China just for saying that. Me, a boy? I so not look like one!

"Excuse me?" I asked him icily. Steve glared at me, this was not part of the plan but I had to make this human know that I am not a boy. This time, Morgan laughed right out loud, pounding his fist on the table.

"You bought your girlfriend with you, Mr. Leonard?" Morgan giggled. I am startled at the fact that he sound so feminine when he giggle, almost like a young teenage girl. Perhaps he is gay?

"I am not his girlfriend," I said through gritted teeth, "You've heard that the legendary army of vampaneze is lead by the vampaneze lord. Well, what if it wasn't a vampaneze lord, what if…it was a vampaneze lady?" Taking the candle from his hand, I thrust it at what seemed like a broken down fireplace, which happened to be filled with piles of paperwork.

"HEY!" Morgan shouted indignantly as the sheets of paper burst into flames.

"Jeez, calm down man," R.V. sighed, "it's just some paper…" Under the illuminated light, I saw that Morgan James was a thin, bean-pole like thing with a hooked nose that seemed too big for his face, and greasy slicked back hair.

"What…I just wanted some light…" I grumbled, but from another look from Steve, I groaned and jumped from my seat into the flames, and rescued the slime ball's paperwork.

"You…vampaneze…them…lady?" Morgan stammered.

"Don't make me kill you, Mr. James," I said, turning my head so that he can see the long, painful scar across my face, "Because I really do wish to…we are here for business, and if you and your men don't want to, we'll gladly kill our way out. And trust me, you'll be the first one to feel my metal nails tear a gap through you and pull your intestines out like a strand of yarn." Gannen's clutch on my wrist is so hard that it was as if he was trying to burn his rough fingerprints into me, I can actually feel again, and felt that he is very nervous that I might make a mistake. As if I would be the one to make a mistake! Morgan cleared his throat, and resumed his calmness.

"So you are the vampaneze lady. Very well, what are your offers?" he asked in a pleasant voice. Gannen's arm wringing motions has somehow knocked my senses back, and my sixth sense is back again…faint, but certainly here. Despite the fact that he is absolutely terrified of me, this Morgan James is disgusted at the fact that the vampaneze actually listen to my orders. Sheesh, I've heard of vampires and vampaneze who seem to live in the middle ages, but I will not stand a human that way! "My offers are these, listen close," I said, trying to act as calm as I can, which is even harder than restraining myself to a huge bloody feast. "Immortality, gold and power, under the conditions that you do what ever we tell you to do. And, the prizes are for every single one of your men. Of course, you'll get the biggest share as you are their commander…think of the conditions…I give you ten minutes. Take it or die." Steve gave me a look, and I heard his thoughts loud and clear: take it and die, I thought I told you to say take it or leave it!

"Immortality as in living for eternity, or just for a hundred years?" Morgan asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Not exactly for eternity…about eight hundred years or so," I answered carelessly, and the lust of gold gleamed in his eyes. Steve was right, as usual. Humans would do anything just as long as you give them wealth, power, and immortality.

"When will you pay us?" Morgan asked quietly. "By checks?"

"Checks?" For a few seconds, I've forgotten what checks are, and then it clicked in my brain: small pieces of paper. "No…we'll give you the real thing after you've finished your part of the deal."

"Deal," Morgan agreed, reaching his hand out. I eyed it curiously, am I actually supposed to shake it? Most human never keep their promises when they only shake on it…

_Tell him to make a blood promise_, Steve sent his thought to me, and I nodded as slightly as possible.

"Make a blood promise," I told him, and took out the fairy knife.

"That knife is worth a lot…" Morgan said, fixing his eyes upon it and whistling through his teeth.

"Shut up and be done with it," I snapped, and grabbed his hand then running the tip across it. Pain twisted his face, but I took no care as I collected his blood on the flat of the blade and tipped it into a vial of blood. I saw Morgan staring at it, not knowing what it is.

"Vampaneze blood," I told him, and he seemed to be relieved with that fact. Ha, how stupid is he? When a vampaneze makes a blood promise, he or she won't be able to take it back ever. Sure, I am not bound by their rules, but I am not going to mix my blood with his filthy human blood, so instead it was boar's blood inside the vial. Shaking it thoroughly, I dumped the whole thing into the fire where the flames glowed bright white, then purple until it died, leaving nothing other than piles of ashes.


	36. Chapter 35

"My lady, we just lost number 97," a sickly looking Spanish human reported to me, his voice slightly quivering. _Oh my, this must be the dragon lady Jose told me about, if I say something wrong she'll eat me alive!_ He thought. Dragon lady…what the hell, that's the hundredth nickname I've heard in the whole day, these new humans are certainly bored to death.

"Another one?" I snapped, and he flinched. "He's the seventeenth one we've lost this week!"

"It's not my…sorry ma'am. But…" he stammered.

"Don't call me ma'am or 'm Lady unless you want to be drank dried and stuffed with garlic!" I roared, and he actually jumped backwards. "I am General Panzer…on second thought, as long as you don't call me ma'am or _dragon lady_, lady Selene is okay too."

"Yes ma'…General Panzer," he whimpered, before scurrying away as fast as he can.

"You sure have a way of scaring them out of their pants," Gannen chuckled.

"They are so different…I've never have known that we've started out as them," I told him distastefully. Gannen roared with laughter, spraying everything within ten inches with spit. Thankfully, I've learned to keep my distance from him. I always did, his unusually high ego and eternal garlic breath always kept me a well foot away from him. I sincerely wish that garlic really is lethal to vampires, because then we will win for sure. Gannen's stink travels at least ten miles per minute, with that rate; we'd have dominated the world in a week.

"I still have trouble sometimes thinking that you are still one of them bloodsuckers," Gannen laughed, shaking. I glared at him; if looks can kill, he'd be dead in a nanosecond. The main thing that gets me real mad is when people mention the point that I am not of vampaneze blood, but of vampire.

"Perhaps so, but my mind and spirit's of a vampaneze's," I said quietly, which shut him up, "as for blood, we are all still slightly human…even you, Harst, so you can't talk."

"Selene, really,"  
Gannen complained, knowing what I was going to say next. As Gannen is pretty much the person who questions my blood most often, he already knows my whole speech by heart. Never less, I presented my speech in a rapid, fast-paced voice.

"You see, my dear Gannen, (Gannen slaps his forehead and groans impatiently) blood type does not really matter that much," I reported matter-of-factly, "Your human cells were all transformed into vampaneze cells, or so you think. But perhaps, some might have hidden, or perhaps they might have survived. The vampaneze cells might not have killed off all of them, right? They just keep…duplicating, and getting killed, so yeah!"

"Are you done yet, or will I have to cut your tongue off?" Gannen grumbled. "Oh wait, perhaps the silver oxide from your blade will interact with your vampire cells and let you grow two tongues…"

"Shut it, you…" I replied. Now can you see why he is my least favorite vampaneze?

"Did you just tell me to shut it?" Gannen asked, faking surprise, "I thought that kids nowadays are taught to…"

"Stop it," I growled, "You know perfectly well that I am a legal adult now, at least in human rules."

"In that case, I thought all of you need to respect your elders. You might be second in command, but you are merely twenty three years old while I am two hundred years old," Gannen chuckled, before walking away, knowing that he'd got my nerves.

"Whatever, grandpa!" I called behind his back, grinning pleasantly at the way he cringed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"SELENE!" Steve roared from his office, waking me from my slumber. Lately, he's become a nervous wreck, always suddenly screaming from his sleep, or staying up all night for weeks. Of course, now we are all prepared. For example, I've grew accustomed to wearing work clothes to sleep, and to ignore the frightened whispers of the newbies.

"Coming," I shouted back, pulling on a random pair of black Doctor Marten sixteen holes while running a hand through my grimy hair. I sighed, I'd been wishing that he won't call me today, to give me a chance so that I can wash my hair. I glanced around my tiny room, amazed by how it had changed so much. Before, it was a dusty but clean, newly painted white room with a good door, glass in the windows, and a good sized bed. Now, the paint is chipped and faded, the glass broken, the wooden door rotted so much that I can see through it, and the bed took away to be made into extra cloth.

"SELENE PANZER YOU COME HERE THIS INSTANT!" Steve shouted again, and I hurried out to his office.

"Ok, I'm here," I announced grouchily, kicking the door open, leaving a visible mark on the white wood.

"STOP KICKING EVERYTHING IN YOUR WAY AND SIT, NOW!" Steve spat, even though I am just a few inches away from him. Beside the desk, I saw Gannen and R.V sitting in the remaining chairs and cowering. Okay…this is not a good sign, it is not everyday that Steve is this mad.

"I am only a few inches away, you have no need to shout," I mumbled, but took the nearest vacant seat after the venomous glance he shot me.

"Finally you are all here," Steve growled, "Things are not going very good, and the army needs at least another year before we can actually send them out but we don't have the time!"

"We lost number 97 today, Steve," the words just came out of my mouth. As soon as I said that, I regretted it.

"SHUT UP, SELENE! I KNOW THAT WE LOST A LOT OF PEOPLE ALREADY! HECK, I EVEN KNOW THE TOTAL NUMBER! WE LOST TWENTY FIVE PEOPLE ALREADY!" Steve bellowed in my face, before collapsing back into his chair, as if merely shouting at me had wasted all his energy. "What can we do, this is not working at all…if we carry on this way, the vampire bloodsuckers will win…"

"And it is all her fault," R.V. snarled, glancing menacingly at my way through slit eyes. I cannot believe my ears. All this is my fault? MY fault? Yes, I came up with the idea, but I wasn't the one who trained them, was I, and he is blaming me? I got ready to pounce, but a firm hand held me back: Gannen.

"Cut out the action, Selene," He said warily, "And R.V., it is none of our fault…things just got…out of control."

"Out of control your head!" R.V. said bitterly, "Cut out the optimistic speech, man, it is not cool. I am telling you, this is all her fault…"

"R.V., I will not allow you to insult any of us anymore. And to tell you, by the way, Selene is second in command to Steve, you better pay some respect to her," Gannen replied. Today must be some sort of special day: Gannen stood up for me, R.V. called everything my fault without a bit of guilt, and Steve buried his head in his arms for the whole conversation.

"…I am telling you Gannen, it's that witch's entire fault! It's the female's fault…she's a bad omen!" R.V. was pleading, while slashing at Gannen with his hooks. Female? Anger boiled in me again, insulting me directly is bad enough, but making 'female' jokes is something I really cannot stand. But all of that dissolved, as it gave me a great idea…another great idea, one that only comes on special days and will save us all. Of course, none of them would really like it…but hey, I AM second in command.

"I have an idea that will possibly give us some time," I announced primly, causing Steve to look up and Gannen and R.V. to cease fighting.

"What is it; please don't tell me that it is any one of those lame excuse things…" Gannen muttered.

"With Steve's permission, I will personally train a group of female humans and lead them around the world to kill vampires. Not enough to really damage them, but not little enough to not let them notice," I told them, " There's a big possibility that we would lose many of them, but it would buy us at least a year of time."

"That is a good idea…" Gannen deemed, and R.V. nodded in approval. I felt proud that they liked this plan, but very deep inside I was a little disgusted. If I was offering to train some male humans, they would say no for sure, but since its females they don't bat an eye.

"And in the mean time, I have transferred Miss Hemlock to this public academy named Mahler's," Steve suddenly said, as if only remembering it, "I will order some vampaneze to wreck havoc there, enough to draw Creepy Crepsley and Darren back to that town."

"So…it's settled?" R.V. asked, surprised that the meeting had be over after just a few minutes.

"Yes, you may all leave now," Steve said carelessly, pulling out some paperwork. Gannen and R.V. left the scene as fast as possible, with me following close behind, but just as I was about to leave Steve said: "No, not you Selene…I have to discuss the plans with you." With an obedient nod, I closed the door and resumed back to my original seat.

"Who will you take?" he asked carefully. "Be careful who you choose…you don't want them to betray any of us."

"D'uh," I snorted, even though I knew that he didn't really like slang terms. "I will personally hand-pick them out of the people we are training right now. Perhaps I'll set up a life or death test, and I'll take the survivors with me."

"Maybe you should take only twelve with you…I remember that your favorite book back in sixth grade was Eragon. Wasn't there this group of Forsworn that were twelve people lead by Morzan that went around sabotaging the villages under the command of Galbatorix?" Steve commented, "Yes, I think that you should take only a dozen with you…and you should leave in a few months after…"

"No, I am going to leave in three weeks," I said firmly, "That's all I'll need to train them dolls into warriors, mark my words."

"Three weeks? But…you can't possibly…very well," Steve sighed. Everyone's learned that if I wanted something, I won't stop until I get it so no one really argues with me now.

"I will go now, if you permit," I said softly to him, "You know, controlling someone's fate must be really useful…I must use this chance the best I can."

"You can go now," Steve mumbled, bending over his papers again. I pushed the door open and walked out, but then I poked my head in again.

"Oh, and Steve? I don't think you'd like to be Galbatorix, he's bald." And with that, I closed the door upon Steve's horrified look.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

-Three days later, again in Steve's office

"I have chosen," I told them. This time, there were more of us: Steve, me, Gannen, R.V. and Morgan James. We sat in a semi circle, so that we can see each other clearly.

"Who have you chosen, General Panzer?" Morgan asked politely. Although he already knows that I am not the vampaneze lady, he still pays me a lot of respect unlike Gannen and R.V.

"Only a dozen," I replied, "I chose them: Tanya, Kaitlin, Clarissa, Ophelia, Lilith, Genieve, Raven, Rowena, Francesca, Amore, Zelda and Marissa." Morgan nodded, until I got to the name Marissa.

"You can't have her, I am very sorry, but you can't." he said, trembling lightly.

"Why not? It sounds like a good plan to me," Steve asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow."

"Because…she is my daughter."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I know that I shouldn't laugh, but it is such a funny thought that Mr. grumpy-face-don't-call-me-James is actually married and has children, so I burst out laughing while the rest of them stared at me as if I was crazy. It wasn't everyday that I cracked a smile, not to mention actually laugh.

"What is so funny, my lady?" Morgan asked sourly. He knows that he cannot prevent us from taking Marissa, so now he's all sour.

"I don't…I never…who's your wife?" I managed to ask between laughs, "Is she Wilma Johnson? Marissa looks slightly like her, you know, like her hair color."

"My wife is Pansy Gregorovitch," Morgan said quietly, "She was killed in a protest, and while Wilma shares Marissa's hair color, Marissa's hair is like silk while Wilma's is like corn husk."

"Enough beauty tips and family history," Gannen said impatiently, "So where are you going to take them? Tell us your plans"

"I plan on taking them, the Forsworn, to California," I said importantly to their shocked faces.

"Why Cali? It's real sunny there…no vampires will go there!" R.V. gasped.

"You are wrong. The American vampires all group there even if it is sunny…I don't know why they just do. And we will go their because it is my mission and I know California as well as I know the back of my hand," I snapped, "I lived there when I was a mortal." As no one could disagree with that fact, they merely nodded (Morgan James with clenched teeth) their heads in approval.

"What we will be doing when she is gone, sire?" R.V. asked Steve. Unlike talking to me, that fat thing pays dear respect to Steve. Someday, I certainly will give him a piece of my mind but right now he is Steve's property and I cannot harm a single hair on his head.

"We will go to Creepy Crepsley's hometown, where we will wreck havoc to lure them here. We will build tunnels underground to ensure an escape route, and we will find out every trap and turn in that town until we know it as well as you know yourself," Steve said promptly, "Miss Hemlock is already working at Mahler's, now all we have to do when we are done is to fake some certificates and things to make Darren enrolled in Mahler's once he is there. I will make friends with Darren until they trust me, then someone will lure them into the tunnel where we will take Miss Hemlock away and leave them there. Surely, Darren will come after his pretty little bird, and then we will kill them."

"So, that's it then?" Gannen asked, "We won't have to go on a wild goose chase?????"

"No, after Selene leaves, we will start going to our destination point."

"We won't have to train them that hard anymore, nor do we need to cramp them up so tightly," I announced, "we won't want to lose that much of them again, they are harder to come by nowadays."

"How will you get passports and tickets to go to California, you're not expecting me to pay for all that are you?" Morgan asked hurriedly.

"Of course not," I snorted, "We will sneak aboard…then, when we are landing we will sabotage the plane and kill everyone aboard. After we're landed, we'll just be the survivors of an assault."

"How will you land then?" R.V. asked, "None of them had ever been pilots before and neither did you."

"We'll wait until we land before we kill the pilot," I shrugged matter-of-factly.

"Fine…" Gannen muttered absentmindedly, and Morgan nodded stiffly.

"Then, we leave tomorrow," I told them, and the meeting ended with that.


End file.
